Harry Potter and the Book Of Merlin
by la z boy
Summary: Harry and Hermione embark on a mission to find a fabled book of vast power before a mysterious group of Dark Wizards who have been growing in power ever since Lord Voldemort's downfall get to it. HHr. PostDH.
1. A Call To Action

**A/N: **To clear some things up, the Prologue is meant to set this story up as a flashback. And yes, some of the inspiration for the story structure came from "Mission: Impossible 3". Okay, that's out and off my chest.

Secondly, I tried to make this as close to J.K.R.'s writing as possible, but I think some of my own techniques might have snuck in.

Third, this story completely disregards the Epilogue of "Deathly Hallows".

Now here's a brief summary which I'll try to make free of potential spoilers for future chapters: A rescue attempt of two fellow Aurors leads to a dangerous quest to uncover the fabled Book of Merlin and expose a new organization of Dark Wizards who have been slowly gaining power ever since Voldemort's downfall. The future Harry was once so certain of is gradually falling apart.

And finally, on to the Disclaimers: The songs "Do The Hippogriff", "This Is The Night" and "Magic Works" are in fact real songs used in the film "Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire", and can be found on the film's official soundtrack or online. I do not own the rights to these songs; those would belong to the band who performs them.

So, without further ado, the first chapter of the epic adventure "Harry Potter and the Book of Merlin".

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CHAPTER ONE

_**A CALL TO ACTION**_

That night, The Burrow had exceeded its holding capacity, and that was precisely why Mrs. Weasley decided to usher guests outside. In fact, outside was where people seemed to want to be anyway. But who could blame any of them, considering the backyard was where The Weird Sisters had set up their stage and were currently filling the night air with the loud and rhythmic beats of their music. The Burrow itself was aglow from the inside by the lights of each room and if one were to listen closely and tune out the music, they would be able to hear the excited chatter of countless witches and wizards.

Only family and close friends were invited tonight, but it still was difficult to maneuver in and out of all the bodies crowded inside the Weasley Family's old but comfortable home. Harry told himself that such a turnout was to be expected as he weaved through the crowd. After all, this was an event anybody who received an invitation to would be a fool to turn down: the engagement parties for Harry Potter and Ginny Weasley and Ron Weasley and Hermione Granger.

It had been two years since Harry's famous defeat of Lord Voldemort, two years of well-deserved rest and relaxation. In that time, Harry and his friends had opted to go back and complete their final year at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry. They had all passed with top marks and had each instantly received opportunities to begin their careers in the Wizarding world.

Harry and Ron had been taken on by the Auror Department inside the Ministry of Magic and since then had embarked on many missions to track down any remaining Death Eaters who still persisted in their practice of Dark Arts, despite the downfall of their master. Hermione also pursued a job within the Ministry, but her interests fell in the realm of Magical Law. She had started out for a few months working as an understudy to a famous Wizard lawyer, but with Hermione naturally being who she was, she had moved up the ranks within a few more months to become a member of the legal council for witches and wizards herself. Hermione had received numerous accolades for presenting such incontrovertible evidence to the Wizengamot whenever she argued one of her cases.

And then, there was Ginny Weasley. Given the considerable talent she had shown during her brief stint on the Gryffindor Quidditch team, the Chudley Cannons had eagerly signed her on to fill the open position of Seeker. With Ginny on the team, the Cannons had won a string of games and went on to win the Quidditch World Cup her first year. It was then, at the moment where they were both at the places in life they wanted to be, when Harry had proposed to Ginny. Ron and Hermione's engagement soon followed a week later.

Now here they were, the middle of June and just a week away from Harry and Ginny's wedding.

Finally, Harry entered the kitchen and spotted Ginny standing over the sink, cutting up some type of vegetable. Harry grinned as he stealthily approached his fiancé from behind and enveloped her into his arms before he kissed her on the cheek.

"Hey," he greeted warmly. "We need some more firewhiskey, your brother finished off what we had."

"Well, be specific," Ginny replied as she turned around in Harry's arms and kissed him properly on the lips. "Because I have more than one."

"Alright. Specifically, it's George." He gave her another kiss.

"Oh, no. No, you've never seen George drunk before."

"I think I can handle him," Harry smiled.

"No, before you know it, he's naked and hugging people and then maybe even kissing."

"Okay, I'll just sober him up." Harry gave Ginny one more kiss before starting to head back to wherever George currently was. Ginny's hand lingered in his.

"Hey, make sure he doesn't make too much of a mess if he has to vomit in our toilet."

"Relax. He won't wind up naked in our bed. Not like last time."

"This is my parents' house. Our bed is nowhere near here."

"He won't pass out naked on _any_ bed, then."

Ginny smirked as Harry went back out into the party and she went back to preparing more food.

Harry made his way back through the throng of people who were standing around socializing in The Burrow. A few of them turned to Harry as he passed and congratulated him for the umpteenth time that night. Some of these people included former classmates of his, such as Neville Longbottom, Luna Lovegood and, quite to Harry's slight discomfort, Ginny's former boyfriend Dean Thomas. In fact, Harry got the impression Dean's cheerful demeanor seemed somewhat strained.

Just then, someone raced up and hugged Harry fiercely from his right. The pungent smell of alcohol and the fact that the embrace felt tighter than it should have told Harry that it was George. George's eyes were glazed over in the fashion of a wino and his speech came out slurred. But the most noticeable thing about George Weasley, and this had been so for two years now, was the silver artificial left ear that had been manufactured for him after his real one had been lost in battle. Every time Harry looked at the ear, he couldn't help but feel a pang of guilt because he was part of the reason George had lost it.

"Hiya, Harry," George greeted in a drunken voice. "Or should I just call you Bro?"

Harry gently pried George's arms off of him and placed his hands on George's shoulders in case he would fall over. "Hey, George. How are you feeling?"

"Great!" George slightly exaggerated the 'a' in the word. "I'm just _really_ enjoying this party!" His face took on what could only be described as an attempt at a serious face. "You know, someone should get some more firewhiskey. I'm afraid I drunk…I mean drank it all. _I'm_ the one who's drunk!" He then raised his eyebrows in surprise and put his hand on his stomach. "Now, if you'll excuse me, I have a date with a toilet bowl."

George hurriedly walked away towards the bathroom, shouting "Oi! Sick drunk coming through!" to anyone in his way.

As Harry reached the living room of The Burrow, the lyrics of the current fast-paced Weird Sisters song reached his ears. The lyrics were accompanied by the sounds of various musical instruments, none of which Harry was sure he could place.

"_Move your body like a hairy troll  
Learning to rock and roll  
Spin around like a crazy 'elf  
A' Dancin' by himself  
I boogie down like a unicorn  
No stoppin' till the break of dawn  
Put your hands up in the air  
Like an ogre, just don't care"_

"Do The Hippogriff" was the name of the song, and it was one of the songs The Weird Sisters had played during The Yule Ball in Harry's fourth year at Hogwarts. When he and Ginny had hired them for the party tonight, they had requested that they play the songs they had performed during The Ball. And in case the band had forgotten, Harry and Ginny had provided them with a list of those songs.

In the living room, Harry spotted Ron and Hermione, who were surrounded by a group of more former classmates and were chatting happily. As Harry stared at his two best friends, Hermione seemed to sense that she was being watched and turned her head to face Harry's. Hermione smiled warmly and Harry returned it with the same sentiment before picking up his cup of butterbeer from where he had left it. Wanting to take a short break from socializing, Harry took a seat in a nearby armchair and sipped the drink.

Across the room, the people whom Ron and Hermione had been conversing with departed, leaving the red-haired young man and the brown-haired young woman alone for the moment. Hermione's hair was rarely ever bushy anymore. Since graduating from Hogwarts, she had decided to straighten it out and cut it so that it fell just beneath her shoulders now, rather than her waistline. Ron turned to Hermione as he reached into his pocket.

"I've got something for you," he said. "Think of it as a little engagement present. One that only your husband-to-be could give you." Ron pulled out a thin jewelry box and opened it, revealing a shining silver necklace with a miniature heart connected to the chain. At the center of the heart was a small red jewel.

"Oh, Ron!" Hermione breathed in astonishment. "How…?"

"I saved up a few months' salary. The first time I saw it, I knew it was perfect for you." Ron pulled the necklace out of its box and put the box down on a nearby table. Next, he uncurled the chain and placed it around Hermione's neck; Hermione had to lift her hair up to get it fully around her neck.

Ron smiled as Hermione began to admire it. "I was right."

"It's beautiful," complimented Hermione. "And you're amazing." She leaned in close and kissed Ron lightly on the lips.

"Well, I need to find Ginny real quick. I've got to ask her something about the wedding."

"Okay. I'll be talking to Harry if you need me."

They both headed off to the people they were looking for.

Harry saw Hermione walking towards him, so he got up from the armchair and moved over to the couch, which had more space for two people. He noticed Hermione's new necklace before she sat down.

"It seems Ron knew what he was talking about when he picked that out," he said, indicating the necklace with his eyes.

"So I take it you knew he was buying this?"

"He showed it to me at the office the day after he bought it."

Hermione fingered the silver heart, gently caressing the surface as if it were a fragile artifact that was years old. Harry could see her delighted face in the small reflective surface of the red jewel given his close proximity to her, and he felt a curious sensation in the pit of his stomach. Was it because of Hermione's smile? But, more importantly, what was the feeling exactly?

Hermione spoke again, which prevented Harry from dwelling on the matter any further.

"So, are you nervous about the wedding?"

Harry didn't even take a moment to answer. "Of course not. I can't wait to marry Ginny. She's fantastic." Harry paused. "You?"

"After spending nine years with Ron, I've gotten to know him very well. And what once bothered me about him, his eating habits or his general caveman attitude at times, don't bother me that much anymore. I think that's a sign that I'm ready to begin the next phase of my relationship with him."

Harry reached out and took Hermione's hand in his. "Well, at least _someone _can tolerate those things. I would wish you two the best of luck, but I know you don't need it. You and Ron are gonna be great together."

"The same goes for you and Ginny," Hermione replied.

Harry and Hermione were still holding hands, but neither of them seemed to realize it until they both looked down.

Harry couldn't deny the feeling of deep warmth and comfort he felt as he sat there holding Hermione's hand, and he wondered if Hermione was experiencing the same sensations. By looking into her eyes, he figured she did. It took both of them a moment longer than was probably necessary to untangle their fingers. Harry moved as if to say something, but before he could say anything, he felt Ginny's arms wrap around his shoulders.

"What do you say to a dance?" she said in his ear.

It was then Harry noticed that the song was coming to an end, signaling the imminent start of another in perhaps a minute.

"Sure," Harry said as he rose up off the couch. "But you _have _to promise you won't make me look so uncoordinated." He saw that Ron had returned as well and was also guiding her out into the backyard, where people were dancing to the tune of the music. Harry and Ginny followed behind them.

"That's entirely up to you," Ginny retorted jokingly.

The backyard of The Burrow was lit by strings of lanterns that ran from the house itself and connected with trees just outside the perimeter. A performing stage had been set up on the far side, while the other side of the yard had a line of tables supporting serving plates of food and bowls of drinks with ladles sitting in them. In the center of the yard, countless people stood and danced enthusiastically to the music, but the current song had just ended so everybody came to a halt and applauded the band.

On stage, the Weird Sisters grouped together momentarily, obviously to discuss how to prepare their instruments for the next song. When they broke apart, the lead singer stepped up to the microphone at the front of the stage.

"Alright, this next song seems to be a favorite among fans, so let's see how fast you can recognize it."

The band struck up the next song, the first tune bursting into the air like an explosion.

"_When all is dark and there's no light  
Lost in the deepest star of night  
I see you"_

Both couples headed out onto the dancing yard, stepping in and moving along to the rhythmic pulse of the music within seconds.

_You hands are shakin' baby  
You ain't been sleepin' lately  
There's something out there and it  
Don't seem very friendly, does it?  
If I could help you  
I would help ya'  
But it's difficult  
There's somethin' much more powerful  
Than both us possessin' me  
I got to get to grips 'a  
I don't want to feel like this 'a  
Your voice keeps haunting me  
I cannot eat or sleep  
I'm going crazy  
In this hazy fantasy  
You put a spell on me  
Oh, but I ain't going out alone_

Harry and Ginny danced close together, broad smiles on their faces. The chorus kicked in for the next bit.

_So take your hands off me  
Tonight I'm breaking free  
This is the night  
This is the night_

Many people were looking towards both engaged couples as they danced the night away jovially.

Harry stole a glance over at Ron and Hermione. Harry had never seen Hermione dance, other than at The Yule Ball, but given how many years ago that had been, he'd forgotten how good she was at it. Hermione caught his eye, and all Harry could do was smile.

_There was a time  
I would have walked  
On burning coals for you  
Sailed across the ocean blue  
From the highest mountain  
Just to call your name  
The moon throws down its light  
And cuts me to the quick tonight  
Change is in the air  
Nothing will never be the same  
You still look good to me  
Ooh, but you're no good to me  
I close my eyes  
And it's squeezing from my consciousness  
And in the morning when I wake  
I walk the line  
I walk it straight  
But the morning's so many miles away  
You've got now_

With one more stanza of chorus lyrics, the song ended and pretty soon, the lead singer was back at the mic. "I'm looking out into the crowd, and I see the four people of the evening." There was a quick burst of applause. "Now, what do you say we make this next dance interesting? Why don't the happy couples switch dancing partners?" This was met with more applause, even a bit of whistling. "Let's have brother and sister-themed slow dance! Actual brother and sister along with brother-in-law and sister-in-law! C'mon!"

Everyone seemed to like this idea, so Harry acquiesced by pairing with Hermione while Ron joined Ginny. Seconds later, the Weird Sisters kicked the next song into high gear, or perhaps it was low gear given the fact that it was a slower song.

_And dance your final dance  
This is your final chance  
To hold the one you love  
You know you've waited long enough_

_So,_

_Believe that magic works  
Don't be afraid  
Of bein' hurt  
Don't let this magic die  
The answer's there  
Oh, just look in her eyes_

_And make  
Your final move  
Mmm, don't be scared  
She wants you to  
It's hard  
You must be brave  
Don't let this moment slip the way_

_Believe that magic works  
Don't be afraid  
Afraid of bein' hurt  
No, don't let this magic die  
Ooh, the answer's there  
Yeah, just look in her eyes_

_And don't believe that magic can die  
No, no, no, this magic can't die  
So dance, your final dance.  
'Cause this is, your final chance._

During the course of this song, as Harry and Hermione danced together, the same feeling that Harry had felt when he had been holding hands with Hermione returned. This time, there was no second-guessing if Hermione was sharing the experience; Harry could easily tell from the expression in her eyes that Hermione was indeed going through the same confusion. When the song had ended, the two of them lingered momentarily before mutually breaking apart, each of them completely oblivious to the applause that had replaced the music.

Shaking his head slightly in order to clear it, Harry made his way over to the refreshment table. He grabbed the handle of the ladle that was in the punch bowl after having pied up a cup and filled it to the rim with the red liquid. Harry downed the whole cup in one gulp, so he didn't notice the figure that came up beside him, pretending to decide on something to pick out from the array of food. When Harry did acknowledge the person, a frown immediately crossed his face.

It was a man of tall height, with hair as black as Harry's, but nowhere near as messy. His eyes were a light shade of blue and he had about a day's growth of stubble dotting his face. The man was well-built, obviously muscular underneath his Muggle attire. The only thing that might have misled anyone from the conclusion that he worked for the Auror Department was the kind, relaxed expression that seemed chiseled onto his face. His name was Marcus Bloom, one of Harry's superiors at the office.

"Nice party," Marcus said by way of a greeting. His voice was as smooth as silk, something that suggested he could have been a ladies' man.

Harry carefully kept his displeasure at seeing Marcus tonight in check. "I thought you couldn't make it."

"Well, my schedule got cleared up at the last minute, so I thought I'd swing by."

Harry went about the motions of collecting fingerfoods onto a plate. "_Just_ swing by?"

Marcus smirked. "Two years of working together, and you already know me well enough as if it had been ten."

"I'm off-duty tonight, Marcus. So whatever you have, take it to someone else."

"There _is_ no one else. At least, no one else who's good enough."

Harry set the plate down and turned his head to look at Marcus dead-on. "It's my engagement party. What could possibly be so important, it would prompt you to come to me?"

Marcus reached into his coat pocket and withdrew a small, tied-off pouch and casually put it down on the table in between them. "This."

Harry looked down at the pouch with reluctance.

"The only reason I'm bringing it to your attention is because it's about John and Daniel. Listen, I'm not forcing you into anything, I want that perfectly clear. All I'm asking is that you take a look at it, and then decide whether or not it's worth the time and effort. If you do end up wanting the case, then let Ron in on it and get back to me by morning." Marcus finally gave up the charade of choosing snacks.

It took a while, but Harry eventually took the pouch, the contents of which he was all too familiar with, and stuffed it into his own pocket.

"Look forward to hearing back from you," said Marcus as he started to recede into the crowd. "Oh, and tell Ginny I said hello."

By the time Harry had turned around, Marcus was completely gone. Harry then studied the crowd and saw that Ginny was occupied with the latest song blaring from the stage, as was Ron and Hermione. Harry waited a few moments before he stealthily slipped back inside and started to make his way upstairs, where he could have some privacy and use a fireplace.

After making a bit of small talk with a few more friends, Harry was finally upstairs and inside Mr. Weasley's private office, which he knew had a fireplace. He closed and locked the door behind him, then made his way over to Mr. Weasley's cluttered wooden desk and turned on a lamp that was sitting on top of it. After that, Harry walked over to the fireplace and crouched down in front of it.

First, Harry removed a small black iron cup from a cradle nailed to the brick wall beside the fireplace. Next, he untied the pouch that was now in his other hand and poured the contents inside the cup: one-way Floo Powder. Due to this room's constant coldness, Harry knew Mr. Weasley always kept the fireplace alive, and tonight that came in handy. Without wasting another second, Harry tossed the Powder into the flames.

Instantly, there was a contained roar of wind as the flames turned from reddish orange to brilliant blue. Harry shut his eyes briefly to account for the sudden change of color, then reopened them to be met with the face of Marcus floating directly in the center of the blue flames.

"Hello, Harry," the face said. This type of Floo Powder was now a common tool among Aurors. Superior officers in the Department used it to record messages which explained any sort of high-value mission an Auror needed to embark on. It was a useful method which eliminated the risk of any spy in the office gaining wind of any mission that needed to remain secret for security purposes. Harry knew Marcus wouldn't have given him the pouch unless it was extremely important.

"I'm going to get straight to the point," Marcus's face continued. "Two weeks ago, Sybil Trelawney was abducted by men we've positively identified as muscle workers for Lucius Malfoy." Marcus's face had disappeared, but the voice was still speaking. Harry was now looking at an image of Professor Trelawney, followed quickly by one of Lucius Malfoy. "As you're well aware, Malfoy regained his dark tendencies shortly after the downfall of the Dark Lord two years ago. Since then, he has been heavily involved in shady business, such as smuggling illegal Dragon Hide wands into London and attempted attacks in Muggle communities.

"Two days after Trelawney was taken, we received reliable intelligence that she was being held in Malfoy Manor. So, I sent in your two old teammates from your early days: John Milligan and Daniel McNally. But the problem is, we haven't been able to establish any communication with them since they reached the target zone, and that was more than a week ago." Marcus's face was back in the flames.

"Normally, we would just leave our people to fend for themselves, but since Malfoy is such a high-value person of interest, we need this operation to be successful. So, if you feel up to it, I would like you and Ron to stage a rescue attempt. The two of you have studied the layouts of Malfoy Manor extensively as well as having been inside. Now, Barnes has no idea I've put this idea into play, so we need to be as discreet as possible. And we need to do this quickly, so it's imperative that you give me an answer within 24 hours." Marcus's face paused, as if it could see Harry's face crunched up in deep thought.

The 'Barnes' he had referred to was Liam Barnes, the no-nonsense Head of the Auror Department who would have certainly disapproved of Marcus's willingness to break standard protocol by staging an off-the-book rescue attempt.

"Take some time and think it over," pressed Marcus's voice. "Oh, and Happy Engagement, Harry."

The image of Marcus's face disappeared from the flames, making them return to their original orange hue. This left Harry in a thoughtful silence.

Going on assignment was the last thing Harry wanted to do at the moment, but there were factors in play that Harry couldn't simply ignore. For one, Professor Trelawney had been kidnapped, which brought up the possibility that her life was in danger. Even though Harry had never been particularly fond of Trelawney during his time at Hogwarts, he still knew she was an innocent woman who didn't deserve the cruel treatment Lucius Malfoy was bound to inflict upon her.

Then there were John Milligan and Daniel McNally to consider. John and Daniel were close friends of Harry and Ron; they had been on their team of Aurors traveling the world in an attempt to round up remaining Death Eaters in their first few months on the job. John and Daniel had become really close friends with Harry and Ron during their time together, so choosing not to go out and save them from trouble would be a disservice to their friendship, Harry knew.

Given the circumstances, there was simply no other alternative.

Sighing, Harry lifted himself up off the floor and unlocked the door, making his way back downstairs in search for Ron. He finally found him in the kitchen, fooling around with Hermione, but not too much.

"Hey, uh, I need to talk to you," Harry said in a slightly guarded tone. He made sure he still sounded as casual as possible, so as to not alert Hermione and worry her.

After Ron followed Harry out near the shed next to The Burrow, Harry filled Ron in on what Marcus had asked of them. As he listened, Ron's face slowly turned from happy to depressed. Once Harry was finished, Ron slammed his fist against the shed.

"Damn it! Marcus knows we're on vacation!"

"Ron, are you seriously putting downtime ahead of our friends?"

"Of course not, Harry! But all I'm saying is that he could've come to us with this information earlier! Why'd Marcus wait until _now_ to involve us, a week before our weddings?"

"I don't know, maybe he thought he could try something else before coming to us. But the point is, John and Daniel's lives could be in danger and we're the only hope they've got. And given how good we are at our jobs, we can get this done in a day, tops."

Ron rubbed his eyes wearily, clearly uncomfortable with having to make this kind of decision at this specific time.

"Look, I need a definite answer from you," Harry persisted. "Are you in or not?"

Ron lifted his head back up, his eyes now reflecting a mixture between disappointment and angry amusement. "Of course I'm in. At least we can try to finally nail Malfoy once and for all."

"Alright," said Harry after a short pause. "I'll get a hold of Marcus and tell him."

They started to make their way back inside The Burrow.

"So when are we planning on telling Ginny and Hermione?" Ron asked as they walked across the front yard.

Harry mulled over the question for a bit. "We should wait until after the party. That way, they won't have everyone else concerned as to why they suddenly had a change in mood."

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Four hours later, all the guests had gone home after bidding the happy couples goodbye, which left Harry, Ginny, Ron, Hermione and Mr. and Mrs. Weasley to clean up. However, since they all had the luxury of magic on their side, the task took them no more than a few minutes. But nonetheless, Harry and Ron knew that now was the time to divulge the details of their latest assignment to Ginny and Hermione.

"Listen, um, something's…just come up," Harry told Ginny as he pulled her aside in the kitchen, Ron and Hermione close by and in the same situation.

"What is it?" Ginny asked, a knowing tone present in her voice. Harry looked over at Hermione and saw that she was giving Ron that cross expression she reserved for whenever she knew there was something important she didn't know.

"Marcus dropped by…"

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That night, Harry was dreaming. More importantly, the dream was one of great discomfort.

It started out with Harry and Ron, accompanied by John and Daniel, in the midst of a very intense battle they had fought during their first few months as Aurors. Multicolored lights of spells and hexes flew past their heads, barely missing them; obviously, their adversaries didn't have very good aim.

Each Auror took cover behind stone columns inside an abandoned and nearly torn-down house, the roof of which was missing completely. This bathed the scene in a sea of moonlight, which was frequently punctured by bursts of light, whether it be red, purple or orange. Suddenly, a portion of the column Harry was hiding behind exploded, sending chunks of debris and small clouds of dust into the air.

Harry dove out into the open and then rolled behind the next closest column of stone foundation, joining Ron.

"We're pinned down," Ron said through gritted teeth. "The slimy buggers have an advantage because they're on higher ground." He leaned out from behind the column and sent a curse flying toward one of four cloaked figures standing on what was once the second level of the house. It connected, causing the man to fall heavily to the ground.

But what happened next was something Harry didn't remember happening.

The remaining three cloaked men simultaneously sent three flashes of green light, Avada Kedavra, spiraling towards Harry and his compatriots. The first violently blasted away a few bricks above Harry and Ron's heads, making them duck for cover as the bricks rained down upon them. The other two, however, found their targets.

The Avada Kedavra curse hit both John and Daniel square in their chests. Harry watched, shocked, as the life instantly drained from their faces and they were thrown backwards, hitting what remained of a wall with a force that would have broken bones, if they hadn't already been dead.

Harry awoke with a jolt. He was breathing hard and sweating slightly. After realizing that he was still in his bed along with Ginny, Harry rubbed a bit of perspiration off his brow to prevent it from falling into his eyes.

He then looked towards the digital clock that was mounted on the bedside table; the green digital numbers read 3:45. Harry sighed as he put his head back onto his pillow, struggling to calm himself. It was the first time in a long time a dream had been able to wake him like that. Plus, the fact that John and Daniel had been killed in that version of the past event was enough to unsettle Harry.

Harry turned his head and was met with the sight of the lump that was Ginny's curled-up form. Her back was to him, and Harry deduced it was a way of signifying that she was still upset over him taking on an assignment so close to their wedding. Harry gently reached out and stroked Ginny's red hair, but was careful not to wake her.

He then rolled back over on his left side and did his best to fall back asleep. He would have to be awake again in two hours and fifteen minutes, and Harry knew that he would need all the rest he could get to make it through the coming day.


	2. The Rescue

**A/N: **Those of you who are aware that this is a Harry/Hermione adventure have expressed concern as to when exactly the pairing will happen. Well, it'll occur in a few more chapters, just not yet. I purposefully wanted to begin with H/G and R/Hr, then change over. Anyway, here's Chapter 2.

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CHAPTER TWO

_**THE RESCUE**_

Auror Headquarters are located on the second level of The Ministry of Magic. The appearance of the office had changed in the time Harry and Ron had been recruited. Where a series of open cubicles once covered the floor, there was now more open space with desks that weren't enclosed inside three miniature blank walls. The whole area was now more comparable to the "bull pens" of Muggle Law Enforcement agencies, with both Aurors and various other members of the Department were free to roam about as they pleased. Seeing as the Auror Department was easily the most important branch of The Ministry, these renovations weren't much of a problem.

At the head of the room, a huge board was mounted on a blank wall. Printed dead in the center were the words "Most Wanted". Above and below the massive words were lines of moving pictures depicting every Dark Witch or Wizard who had the potential to cause the most damage in the magical community. This wall featured mostly Death Eaters who had somehow evaded capture after Lord Voldemort's downfall, but also a few new faces of evil who had only recently emerged and caused the kind of trouble that made their pictures be put up on display. Only three people out of more than twelve had red "X's" plastered over their faces, signifying that the Auror Department still had a ways to go. One of the people whose picture was not plastered over was Lucius Malfoy.

There was a small office up a short flight of stairs for the Head of the Department, currently Liam Barnes, and his office also happened to be connected with The Situation Room by sitting atop it. The Situation Room was where various people would meet during different crises to discuss the proper courses of action to ensure success.

This was where Harry and Ron were currently headed to meet up with Marcus. But on the way, they passed Ron's desk and he suddenly remembered something.

"I should bring along those new dossiers on some of the former Death Eaters. Marcus can hand them over to Barnes." He and Harry double backed and returned to Ron's desk. Once there, Ron opened a manila folder that was sitting atop the clear glass surface. Upon opening the folder, miniature images of people's faces along with lines of text floated up into the air. The moving pictures of these men and women scowled menacingly at Harry and Ron, as if they were actually present in the office themselves. Ron took a few moments to survey them carefully, then closed the folder in satisfaction and tucked it underneath his right arm.

Harry and Ron then closed the distance on The Situation Room and pulled open the glass door. Marcus was already inside and standing on the left of a long table with rows of chairs on either side, as were two other individuals whom Harry and Ron recognized. The first was Ian MacGregor, a moderately built Auror with dark brown hair and chocolate eyes to match. Ian wore velvet-colored robes with solid black underneath and had his wand visibly tucked into his belt on his left hip. The second was a woman with dirty blonde hair and sky blue eyes, almost identical to Marcus's, and she wore forest green robes that fit her so nicely, they did a wonderful job of accentuating her physical characteristics; this was Ann Flynn.

Ian and Ann had joined the Auror Department not long after Harry and Ron. However, they both chose to go through the rigorous training process of getting the position, rather than opting to merely accept a free invitation from the new Minister of Magic, Kingsley Shacklebolt. Any Auror who had been in the business long enough would tell you that the application process was not easy work. Becoming an Auror required that you achieve no less than "Exceeds Expectations "on at least five N.E.W.T.s (Nastily Exhausting Wizarding Tests) in challenging and applicable subjects. Then came the series of hard-hitting character and aptitude tests designed to see how well you react under pressure. Finally, one had to be trained in areas including magical combat and criminal investigation. This whole process normally took at least three years, but Ian and Ann had done it in less. Harry and Ron, on the other hand, weren't subjected to all of that.

But the one thing that mattered the most among Aurors was their willingness to trust one another. Harry and Ron trusted Ian and Ann immensely.

Once everyone was inside The Situation Room, Marcus closed the blinds of the windows with a simple wave of his wand.

"Harry, Ron," Marcus greeted. "I've asked Ian and Ann to assist you on this operation. I thought it appropriate, given your track record with them."

The four Aurors all exchanged smiles. By now, everyone had crowded around the table. On it was a roll of parchment, showing the entire layout of Malfoy Manor.

"Now, time is short here, so we have to come up with only the basics for now," said Marcus.

"Where's Barnes?" Harry asked, motioning with his eyes toward the office above them.

"He's stepped out on some business with the Minister." Marcus stepped closer to the table, pulling out his wand. "Now…" he tapped the parchment once with the tip of his wand, which caused a rotating, glowing and see-through image of Malfoy Manor to pop up and float over the parchment, "…we can assume that John and Daniel are being held in the dungeons belowground. The objective is to enter the Manor and extract our people with as little trouble as possible." Marcus pointed out the area in question on the rotating blueprint.

"Okay," said Harry, "we can be sure Malfoy will have guards stationed at almost every entrance. The ideal possibility is causing a big enough distraction that would divert everyone's attention long enough to allow us to gain entry to the dungeons." He stepped closer to the hovering blueprint. "There's a wrought-iron gate blocking access to the dungeons on the east side of the Manor. Once the guards are distracted, we could use a spell to get rid of the bars. The small arch should still be big enough to slip through."

"What would security measures on the inside look like?" Ann inquired

"Most likely two or three guards standing near the cells," Harry replied. "But the real problem comes with getting _out_. Assuming Lucius Malfoy does indeed use his home as a base of operations, we could be looking at a randomly changing contingent of more of his men."

"Do we run the risk of there being anyone else in the house at the same time?" asked Ian.

"No," Ron spoke up. "Malfoy's wife decided to leave him shortly after the Second War, and the whereabouts of his son are currently unknown. Rumor has it Draco Malfoy's living peacefully somewhere in the countryside, trying to wash away the stains of his past."

Ann covered her chin with a hand in concentration as Ian studied the blueprint more closely, as if he hoped to shrink and actually step inside it.

"We'll have three people in tow since we know for a fact Trelawney's being held there as well," commented Ann.

"Assuming Malfoy hasn't moved her to a different, undisclosed location," interjected Ian.

"If Malfoy's anything," said Harry, "he's rigid. He's been keeping prisoners down there ever since Voldermort's reign of terror." Even though the Dark Wizard had been dead for two years now, his name still sent slight tremors down the spines of witches and wizards. Although the effect of the name had weakened slightly during that time window. "Moving any prisoner out of his dungeon would be an inconvenience for him."

Ann studied Harry's face for a few moments before she finally nodded. "I'll take your word on that, Harry. But there's still the matter of our escape plan. Side-Long Apparition?"

"Bad idea. Just to be safe, we should put our money on broomsticks," Ron suggested. "It seems only natural that Malfoy would have tortured John and Daniel for any information he could get. And we all know how risky Side-Long Apparition can be when one person has already sustained serious injuries. In most cases, they make them worse."

"Escaping on broomstick dramatically decreases stealth, especially around any Muggle communities," advised Marcus. "And you're likely to be pursued by Malfoy's men, which creates the problem of an aerial battle."

"That's why we'll make sure to stay over open country land until we can shake off any pursuers," Harry answered coolly.

"Relax," Ian said in an attempt to quell Marcus, whose face was slowly becoming more and more worrisome. "All of us are really good at this. We'll get the job done."

"I know you will," responded Marcus. "Because if you don't, Barnes is going to have all our heads on a platter for breakfast."

"Don't you just hate politics?" said Ron airily.

"So the plan is, we penetrate from below, repel any resistance we encounter, then escape with our people by way of broomsticks," recapped Ron. He faced Ian and Ann, straightening up from his previous hunched position over the table. "We don't need to remind you two how important both John and Daniel are to us. If at any point, you sense their lives come into grave danger, I want you to promise Harry and I you won't hesitate."

"Duly noted, Ron," said Ann, "but you don't need to give us that speech. John and Daniel are our friends, too, and we'd give our lives to protect them."

"Hopefully it won't have to come to that," Harry muttered darkly.

Ian stared at Harry and Ron levelly. "Don't worry, guys. We're gonna make this clean and simple."

"So we're done here?" Ann turned to Marcus.

"I believe so. You should go ahead and grab any gear you'll need. This whole thing goes live at sundown." Marcus tapped the parchment again, causing the 3-D blueprint to vanish into thin air.

The four Aurors walked towards the door, but Harry was halted when Marcus put a firm hand on his arm. Ron saw this and paused to wait for his friend, but Harry motioned for him to go on outside; Ron obliged.

"What's up?" Harry asked once they were alone.

"I just wanted to make sure you're confident in this plan."

Harry shrugged. "It was the best we could come up with on such short notice." He paused, studying Marcus closely. "Wait. Are you questioning the plan, or are you questioning _me_?"

"I want to make sure your head is in the right place before I send you out there, is all."

"What, you're worried I'll be too preoccupied with my wedding to focus on getting John and Daniel back?" Harry could feel his temper slowly rising. "What was it you said last night? 'Two years of working together, and yet we know each other well enough as if it were ten'? You _know me_, Marcus."

"Exactly my point," Marcus fired back. "I know that you let your emotions get in the way if something like this involves anyone close to you. Just assure me that you'll keep your mind on what you're going to be doing out there."

"Fine," Harry replied stiffly. "You have my word."

With that, Harry rejoined Ron and left Marcus alone in The Situation Room.

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Malfoy Manor was still the way Harry and Ron remembered it from their unforgettable imprisonment inside a little more than two years ago. A lavish, black castle-like structure sitting in the middle of open country, Malfoy Manor had once been used as a base of operations for Lord Voldemort. But it had also been the site of a terrifying torture that would be forever embedded into Harry and Ron's minds. Malfoy Manor was the place where they had been on the verge of losing Hermione, and they'd be damned if more of their friends nearly lost their lives at the hand of a sniveling coward like Lucius Malfoy.

Harry, Ron, Ian and Ann each stood just outside the perimeter of the grounds, and each camouflaged by an invisibility charm. They couldn't risk being seen by any wandering eyes while they carefully assessed the security measures around the outside of the Manor. So Harry could hear, rather than see, Ron as he posed the question on everyone's mind.

"So how do we proceed?"

From this distance, it was still a challenge to pinpoint any figures Malfoy had watching guard, especially since the sky had turned a deep shade of black and the only light came from twinkling stars and a half-moon.

"I need to get a closer look," answered Harry. "I'll be right back."

Harry made sure to move as swiftly and silently as possible as he approached the Manor, still under the protection of the invisibility charm. When he was close enough, Harry was disappointed to discover that the moonlight wasn't shining at the proper angle upon the Manor, so he removed his wand from his pocket and placed the tip of it right against his right eye and muttered an incantation.

"_Nocturno_."

Instantly, a dark blue haze swept over Harry's vision, much like a wave of color wiping over a blank canvas. Now, Harry could easily make out the glowing forms of guards trotting left and right around the base of the castle, as well as a few looking out at the vast expanse of land from the top of the massive structure. In total, Harry counted ten sentinels. Ten men meant that their distraction had to be good enough. Luckily, Harry and the others had come prepared.

After whispering the reversal spell once Harry had rejoined the ranks of his teammates, each of whom were clearly outlined by the spell on Harry's eyes despite their invisibility charms, Harry divulged what he had discovered.

"Time for the fireworks, then," replied Ron with a smirk.

All four of them temporarily removed their invisibility charms in order to remove dozens and dozens of Wizard Fireworks from a duffel bag they had dragged along with them. Back under the guise of invisibility, the four Aurors split up into two pairs as they went about setting up the Firecrackers in evenly-spaced intervals in the form of a circle around the Manor.

Harry and Ron met back up with Ian and Ann, each of them now having removed their invisibility charm.

"Fireworks are all set. Are the brooms in place?" Ann was one who always made sure to double-check the plan.

"Yep," confirmed Harry. He looked from face to face, reading the readiness in each person's eyes. "Okay, let's make some noise."

He and Ron extracted their wands and bent over two separate Fireworks. They each muttered a spell that simultaneously ignited the fuses of each Firework, the glow of every sparkling light bright enough to spot from a mile away as they gradually ate through the ropes. Harry, Ron, Ann and Ian all took a few steps back to steer clear of the explosions that were only seconds away.

It happened so loudly and so suddenly, it actually took Harry by surprise. Every Firework burst with a violent force as well as a different color before a streak of that same color rocketed skyward and exploded in a cloud in midair. A few of the Fireworks collided with each other, causing there to be many combinations of explosive light, accompanied by thunderous roars of sound that pierced the silent night air.

Any guards on ground level immediately Apparated up to the top of the Manor to investigate the sudden disturbance along with their associates. The inner perimeter of Malfoy Manor was frequently lit by flashes from the Fireworks before they shot toward the sky. A few of Malfoy's men had to duck down to avoid being hit in the face by the miniature rockets.

This had the desired effect. Naturally, the stooges Malfoy had recruited were more brawn than brains, so they didn't seem to notice the four figures, briefly illuminated by each Firework flash, suddenly appear out of thin air and begin to race toward the east side of the Manor.

Harry, Ron, Ian and Ann confidently ran toward the east side of the castle. Harry knew precisely where to go, and it took him only seconds to reach the iron gate blocking access to the dungeons. He raised his wand and shouted the first spell that came to mind.

"_Bombarda!_"

The small gate flew outward and over the heads of Ian and Ann, both of whom ducked down to avoid it. Now, there was an open access point, from which came the dim glow of torchlight. Harry didn't waste any time as he dropped down, feet first, into the dungeon and landed on the floor below. Ron, Ann and Ian promptly followed after him.

A quick scan of the area showed them a dark stone hallway lit by torches, but no indication of any cells. Harry and Ron turned to Ian and Ann, who already had their wands out.

"Stun only," Harry ordered firmly. "If you have to kill, it sure as hell better be necessary."

Everyone kept their wands held steadily before them as they began to comb the narrow hallway, approaching a right turn. Harry and Ron covered the space before them as Ian and Ann covered the area they had come from in case any of Malfoy's men attempted to ambush them from behind.

But just as they rounded the corner and discovered the row of holding cells, they met two black-clad guards who immediately saw the intruders and aimed their wands. The stunning spells they managed to fire off before the Aurors went over the heads of Harry and his partners and blasted away a huge chunk of the wall behind them.

Harry, whose experiences as an Auror had made him even quicker on his feet, managed to point his wand at the chunk of stone.

"_Wingardium Leviosa!_" he shouted.

The chunk halted in midair. Ron then used his wand to wordlessly send the piece of wall closer to the guards and then, quick as a flash, he used a purple burst of light to blow the chunk into pieces that rained down upon the guards. But while Malfoy's men were occupied with trying to avoid the raining pieces of stone, Ian and Ann raised their wands and blasted the guards with red Stunning Spells, which sent the thugs crashing against the wall behind them, unconscious before they slumped to the floor.

With opposition out of the way, the four Aurors started searching the line of cells until they found who they were looking for.

John and Daniel were sitting, battered and slightly bloody, in a cell near the end of the row with Trelawney huddled up against a corner. The short fight had attracted the attention of all three individuals, so when Harry and Ron peeked through the bars, John's eyes went wide.

"Stand back," said Harry as Ron and he themselves backed away a few steps before they used their combined forces to blast away the bars. Ian and Ann, meanwhile, had been guarding the stairwell that led up to the main level of Malfoy Manor in case more men came to investigate the sounds, which they were bound to do.

Harry and Ron raced to the aid of all three prisoners. Harry handled John and Daniel as Ron went to help Trelawney. After a quick survey of all the injuries they had sustained, Harry told his former partners what he had to do.

"Your injuries seem pretty serious, you'll need medical attention. Do either of you think you'll be able to handle yourselves?"

John grunted, clutching his arm as his brown eyes reflected his suffering. "We're going to need a little boost."

Harry nodded. "Alright, I'll give each of you a jolt of adrenaline. You're gonna feel this," Harry added as a warning before quickly saying an incantation that seemed to attack John and Daniel's muscles as they each shook violently. Once they had calmed back down, a fierce fire entered their eyes.

"Harry!" Ron called out.

Harry crossed the room to kneel by Ron and Trelawney. It didn't take long to see why Ron had requested his help.

"Her left fingers are broken. Bent and out of place."

The grotesque sight made Harry shudder slightly. He looked at Ron. "I don't know of any spell that can fix this."

Ron rubbed his chin, clearly uncomfortable. "Then you know what you have to do."

Harry nodded. He moved closer to Trelawney, who remained completely silent but eyed Harry with what looked to be fear. "I have to push your fingers back into place," he told Trelawney gently. "Otherwise, there's a good chance you may never use them again."

Trelawney straightened herself up. "Do it," she said in a voice barely above a whisper.

Harry tenderly took hold of Trelawney's left hand and looked back into her eyes. Harry exhaled, then pushed the index finger back into place with a sickening crunch. Trelawney cried in anguish as Harry continued on to the middle finger. Then the ring, and finally, the pinky.

At the same time, the door at the top of the stairwell was thrown open, but the three wizards who attempted to run down the stairs were thrown back by three more Stunning Spells.

Seconds later, John and Daniel, now fully re-energized, were supporting Trelawney between them and were following their four friends out of the dungeons.

As the group of seven made their way through the upper level of the Manor, they encountered a total of six more guards. The first two were blown backwards through a window by two of Harry's spells while the third and fourth were not only stunned, but tied up with magical ropes as well. The fifth, Ron was forced to tackle due to his close proximity and the fact that none of them would have been able to get a spell off before he was upon them. Finally, the sixth wizard had been blinded, but only temporarily, by a really advanced version of Lumos Maxima, courtesy of Ann; everyone on the giving end had made sure to shield their eyes from the light just in time.

Now they were all back outside, with no sign of the guards from earlier. Harry guessed they had all received warnings of the inner disturbance and stormed inside, which would account for why there had been so many.

But alas, he was wrong.

No sooner had everyone said "_Accio Broom!_" than three more of Malfoy's henchmen descended upon them. Luckily, all four brooms had arrived seconds after that, and Ian used his as a bat and struck the closest guard on the head with the blunt end of his broomstick. However, that did little to resolve the situation.

As the four capable Aurors engaged in a small battle, Harry shouted above the fray at Trelawney. "Professor Trelawney! Can you Apparate back to the Ministry?" A red light went zooming past Harry's chest.

"I…I believe so," said Trelawney, making sure that her voice was loud enough to be heard.

"Then do it! Get back to the Ministry! They'll tend to your injuries! Tell the Aurors we're on our way!" Harry jumped back just in time to avoid a ball of green light, which created a small crater in the ground where his feet had been seconds before. "GO!"

Without another word, Trelawney closed her eyes and Disapparated from the grounds, the cracking sound inaudible over the mayhem.

"That takes care of one," Ron said to Harry.

"BROOMS! NOW!" shouted Harry.

Every Auror mounted their broomstick, blindly sending spells over their shoulders as they did so. John got on with Harry and Daniel joined Ron. Nobody wasted another second and they kicked off from the ground, into the night air.

"Harry," John said desperately in Harry's ear as they were flying over open country land, "there's something I need to tell you."

"Not now," replied Harry hurriedly.

"It's important. Trelawney wasn't the only reason we were sent to infiltrate Malfoy Manor –…"

John was cut off by a stream of green light flying inches past his and Harry's heads. Harry chanced a glance over his shoulder and spotted the three same guards pursuing them doggedly on broomsticks of their own.

"Bloody hell, these blokes just don't quit!" shouted Ron.

"Evasive formation!" Harry yelled.

Harry and the others swerved, dipped and zigzagged in various directions in an attempt to shake their pursuers, all the while dodging green lights sent their way. But Malfoy's men were still behind them.

"_Pyra Ringalis!_" Harry shouted as he traced a circle in the air with his wand. The circle soon became a ring of flames, which Harry sent hurtling at their pursuers, still gripping his wand. The fire ring flew through the air, flipping end over end, behind Harry and shrunk as it wrapped itself tightly around the first pursuer, pinning his arms to his side and causing him to plummet to the ground feet below.

Harry didn't like killing if he could avoid it, but in this situation, he wouldn't be able to shake Malfoy's men without having them fall to their death. This left two more to deal with.

But when Harry look back to get those two people's positions, he only saw one.

"HARRY!"

Harry jerked his head back around at the sound of John's voice and immediately saw what had caused John to scream.

Harry gripped his broomstick tight and sharply went into a dive to avoid the henchman of Malfoy's who had been directly in his line of flight, waiting for him. As Harry dove frantically,, the broomstick spun round and round and Harry frantically tried to regain control. He breathed a sigh of relief once he did, but his heart skipped a beat when he felt John lose his grip from around Harry's waist and fall off the broomstick.

Harry grabbed hold of John's hand just in time, causing him to lean somewhat sideways on the broomstick. John's weight was slowly pulling Harry down as well, and Harry struggled to pull John up with one arm. But just when Harry thought he had him, John's eyes widened in horror as he looked at something past Harry's head.

"LOOK OUT!"

Harry turned his head and saw a jet of green light racing straight towards him. Instinctively, Harry swerved his broom out of the way, still clutching onto John's hand. Another burst of green light came at Harry, and he swerved the broomstick yet again, but this time the movement was simply too much.

Harry felt John's fingers slip from his hand one by one until Harry was grasping thin air.

"NO!"

The last image of John that Harry was left with was of his friend's face frozen with horror as a third jet of green light connected with his unprotected chest, propelling John to the ground even faster.

Harry suddenly realized he was still holding onto his broomstick with only one hand and he immediately grabbed onto it with his other hand, summoning a great deal of strength that helped him swing his leg over the thin piece of wood. In a white-hot rage, Harry flew straight up toward the still-floating wizard, his wand hand outstretched.

"_IMPEDIMENTA!_" Harry yelled.

The spell hit the wizard, and by the time Harry had passed him, he was already falling off his broom. As expected, Harry felt no remorse as he watched the figure of the wizard gradually shrink in size as his body fell to the earth.

This left only one more of Malfoy's minions to contend with.

The person in question was currently bombarding Ron and the others with so many red and green flashes, Harry thought it would appear to anyone who might have been watching from below that it was some sort of early Christmas spectacle. Harry then saw Ron's expert maneuvering of his broomstick falter briefly, but it was still the kind of opportunity the guard needed.

Not wasting another second, Harry zoomed toward them on his broom as fast as he could and cast a Shield Charm in front of Ron before their adversary's latest flash of green could hit Ron. The curse rebounded and went flying away in a completely different direction, very much out of harm's way. This made the wizard turn towards Harry and send off another Killing Curse, but a timely shout of "_EXPELLIARMUS!_" on Harry's end made red and green explode in a violent burst, sending both Harry and the wizard spinning wildly in midair. Harry was quickly able to regain control of his broomstick yet again and get back on course. However, a queasy feeling settled itself inside Harry's stomach as he saw his final opponent coming in fast behind Ron; Ian and Ann were wrestling for control of their broomsticks, just as Harry had been moments earlier.

"RON! BEHIND YOU!"

Ron heard Harry's scream and managed to avoid the incoming figure as Ian and Ann dove at the Dark Wizard from either side. But he saw them coming and lashed out with a kick to Ian's gut, which sent the Auror back quite a few feet. For Ann, the wizard simply jolted himself straight up, causing Ann to continue to dive at an angle. She abruptly stopped, though, and readjusted her course as Ian came up beside her.

At the same time, Ian and Ann raise their wands and launched two curly strands of purple light at the wizard. Those strands wrapped themselves around the Dark Wizard's arms, tightly it appeared, and the wizard began to try and claw these tendrils off while still keeping himself in the air. These purple tendrils were meant to temporarily drain the magical energy from any witch or wizard they wrapped around, but either Ian and Ann were a bit rusty with this spell or this wizard was more powerful than they had anticipated.

Instead of having his power neutralized, the Dark Wizard spread his arms, each of which were now glowing purple, out in front of him. They were aimed at Ron's back, or more accurately, Daniel's back.

The purple tendrils shot forth from the wizard's arms and raced through the air until they had wrapped themselves in a vice-like grip around Daniel's shoulders and under his arms. Ron could do nothing as the tendrils dragged Daniel off the broom and into the grasp of the Dark Wizard. But Ron quickly double-backed and turned himself to face the wizard, as did the others.

The purple tendrils slowly snaked their way all the way around Daniel, and the Dark Wizard grinned menacingly.

Harry's wand was aimed steadily at the wizard's head, or rather what he could see of his head behind Daniel's. "Let him go." There was no need to shout now, seeing as all the loud mayhem had stopped. Permanently, Harry hoped.

The wizard stared evenly at Harry, his gaze unwavering. "Of course." He relinquished his hold somewhat on Daniel, which made Harry suspicious. In all his time of dealing with any sort of Dark Wizards, not once had they cooperated so willingly.

But what happened next clearly told Harry that the wizard had no intention of cooperating.

He threw Daniel, who was still tightly bound, straight up into the air. Harry angled his broom in that direction to pursue his endangered friend, but by the time he had come within arm's reach, it was too late.

As Harry had been flying, the Dark Wizard had been quick enough to fire off a Killing Curse that made Daniel's body go limp inside the tendrils the instant the green light swept over him. Harry instinctively glanced at the spot where he remembered the wizard to have been, but saw that all that remained was open air and an abandoned broomstick that was falling towards the ground below. But the face of the wizard was now etched in Harry's mind; he knew he would be able to identify him if he saw him again.

A split-second later, Harry and the others were chasing Daniel's plummeting body down through the night air. They were going so fast, tears began to leak from the corners of Harry's eyes. But perhaps those were tears of sadness at losing two friends in the course of five minutes.

Daniel's body collided with the ground with a thud Harry thought was surprisingly dull. Shortly after, Harry had landed safely on his feet along with Ron, Ian and Ann. Harry and Ron raced over to Daniel's dead form, which was now tendril-free, and notice that John's body was only a few feet away.

Harry slumped down next to Daniel's body while Ron raced to John's side. Harry was still clutching his broomstick for support. Daniel's eyes were still wide open, an after-effect from the Avada Kedavra curse. With a heavy heart and a shaking hand, Harry reached out and gently closed Daniel's eyelids. It was all he could do for him now. Ian and Ann observed from a distance, not wanting to intrude on the moment.

"I'm sorry," Harry said softly.

And that was the truth of the matter. However sad or unnerving it was.


	3. The Seer's Warning

**A/N: **Due to complaints, I took down the Prologue and will retool it for when it shows up again later. Here's Chapter 3.

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CHAPTER THREE

_**THE SEER'S WARNING**_

The weather couldn't have been more contrary to Harry's feelings when he returned home the next morning. He and Ginny had an apartment in downtown London, perfectly within their budget and homey enough for two people with magical powers. There was a living room with a couch, two plush armchairs, a coffee table, a full bookshelf and a television set with a few magical objects scattered here and there. After all, this was home to the most famous wizard of his time, so there needed to be indicators of it. The living room led into a small dining room with a china cabinet and a Grandfather Clock much like the one in The Burrow that displayed the current locations of family members ("Work", "Home", "In Transit", "Grave Peril", etc.).

After Harry closed the door behind him and set his bag down against the wall of the hallway, he walked into the dining room to study the Clock. Even though Harry could hear the running of water in the adjacent kitchen, Ginny's hand was pointed towards "Out". Curious, and a bit cautious, Harry stepped into the kitchen to see who was there.

But Harry needn't have worried. Standing at the sink in the sun-bathed kitchen, looking quite beautiful and causing Harry's heart to skip a beat, was Hermione. She had enchanted a scrub to work away at dirty dishes while she wiped them dry with a dish cloth before placing them in the open cabinet above her head. It took a while for Hermione to notice there was someone else in the room, but she still glanced up with that trademark smile stretched across her lips.

"Hi, Harry! Oh, I hope you don't mind, but I told Ginny I'd stay a while and take care of the dishes. We had breakfast together this morning."

"No, of course I don't mind," Harry said, forcing a smile of his own. "Where _is_ Ginny, by the way?"

"She went out to take care of a few last-minute things with the wedding planner," Hermione explained. "She should be back by lunch."

Harry nodded in understanding, but either the expression in his eyes was visible from across the room or Hermione had gotten to know Harry so well during their time as friends, she could instinctively tell when something was troubling him.

"How did the mission go?" she asked in a gentle voice.

"Fine," Harry lied in a voice he hoped was as convincing as possible. But at the same time, he knew the answer had come too quickly in order for Hermione to buy it. Suddenly, a lump formed in Harry's throat and he averted his gaze from Hermione's eyes to his shoes.

Hermione needed no further coaxing. She willingly put down the plate and dish cloth in her hands and walked over to Harry, wrapping her arms around him and enveloping him in a warm hug.

At first, Harry just stood there limply in Hermione's arms. Then, slowly, he returned the embrace gratefully, burying his head in Hermione's hair and smelling the scent of strawberries that came with it.

"Ron…?" Hermione asked somewhat shrilly, pulling back from Harry but still keeping her arms around him.

"No," Harry assured her in a firm voice, "no, he's fine. It's…John and Daniel."

Relief swept across Hermione's face before sympathy set in. "Oh, Harry, I'm so sorry." She pulled him back into the hug.

The rest of the day seemed to go by in a daze for Harry. Around noon, Ginny showed up, apparently having already been informed of the situation, most likely from Ron, and she went through the motions of comforting him as best he could. Dinner saw the arrival of Ron and Hermione, and while all four of them were able to converse quite casually with each other, there was no denying the sense of despair Harry and Ron were still feeling about the failed attempt to save their friends.

Finally, halfway through dessert, Ginny and Hermione exchanged glances and silently decided to bring up the topic that was hanging over the heads of Harry and Ron like stormy clouds.

"I think you guys need to talk about it." There was no need for Ginny to clarify what "it" was.

Ron looked up from his slice of apple pie. "What makes you think that?"

"For one, the fact that you've barely brought the subject up ever since you got home," Hermione replied with a ting of softness in her voice. "Both of you are _bound_ to feel something. You worked with John and Daniel for two years."

"It's just…" Harry began, but faltered. He let his fork clang against his empty plate. "I keep denying that last night ever happened. I just can't shake the feeling that maybe, just maybe, they'll be back at the office again tomorrow. But the truth is they won't." Harry paused again. "It's been two whole years since I've lost anyone, and I guess I forgot what the aftermath feels like."

"It's never easy, dealing with the pain of losing someone close to us," Hermione agreed. "But that doesn't mean we have to blame ourselves for what happens."

"Who says we're blaming ourselves?" asked Ron. "It's not like we purposely allowed John and Daniel to die. We did our best to save them."

"Yes, that's true," agreed Ginny. "So neither of you feel _any_ remorse?"

"We wouldn't be human if we didn't, would we?" Harry responded. "Our only regret is that we couldn't at least capture the people who killed them."

After all their time together, Ginny had become just as adept at reading Harry's eyes as Hermione. "Should I take that comment as an indicator that you plan to hunt them down?"

Harry and Ron exchanged slightly surprised glances. "Ginny, our wedding is less than a week away. The only reason Ron and I would have to go back into the office before then would be our debriefing. And that's tomorrow."

"But that still doesn't answer the question. All of us here are well aware how obsessed you can get when a situation like this arises."

"We're not the only Aurors in the Ministry. The Department has other people trained in just the same way we are. They are equally capable of hunting down dark wizards." Harry fixed Ginny with a penetrating stare. "Where is all this coming from?" Harry's thoughts dwelled a bit more, and an idea came into his head. "You think this is my way of telling you that I'm getting cold feet, isn't it?"

Ginny arched an eyebrow. "Well? Is it?"

Harry laughed disbelievingly as he ran a hand through his messy hair. "I don't believe this."

"What do you expect me to think, Harry? You swore when we got engaged that any Auror assignments on your plate would be put on hold, and then all of a sudden, you take one out of the blue."

"It was different. The circumstances were special. I _told_ you it would only take one day."

"And how long does all the follow-up business take? You said yourself that there are others Marcus could have gone too –…"

"There weren't. Marcus believed Ron and I were the only ones who could get the job done. _That's_ why he came to me." Harry narrowed his eyes when he next looked into Ginny's. "Ginny, don't take this the wrong way, but I think you might be behaving a bit irrationally here --…"

Ginny suddenly scooted out her chair and rose to her full height. "Don't tell me how I'm behaving!"

Hermione attempted to quell Ginny's temper by gently saying her name, but Ginny abruptly cut her off.

"Please, Hermione! This is between me and Harry!"

Harry and Ron, both experts on how Ginny's mind and emotions worked, knowingly kept quiet. They knew that whenever Ginny was in one of these moods, there was no sense in trying to calm her down yourself unless you wanted to get your head bitten off.

"How do you think I'm supposed to feel when you promise me you'll keep safe, and yet you keep going on assignment after assignment, thereby putting yourself in harm's way?"

Harry now stood up as well. By now, his temper had risen considerably at being yelled at like this. "It's not like I'm doing this on purpose! When I became an Auror, I swore an oath to protect those less fortunate. What kind of person would I be if I let those people try to fight for themselves just because their lives are at risk at an inconvenient time for me? Tell me that, Ginny!"

Ginny stood there for a while looking so mad, it seemed inevitable that her flaming red hair would soon turn to fire to represent her temper. However, just when Harry thought something venomous would shoot out from between her teeth, Ginny stormed out of the dining room. Seconds later, the slamming of their bedroom door reverberated off the walls.

It was Ron who finally broke the uneasy silence. "What the bloody hell was that all about?"

"I dunno," sighed Harry as he slumped back down in his chair.

"I apologize, mate. I always knew my sister was mental, but I had no idea she could get like this."

"Ron!" Hermione said, somewhat reproachfully.

"Well, what do you expect me to say in reaction to that? She snapped at Harry for trying to save his friends? Hermione, if you don't think that says 'mental' even in the slightest sense, then I don't know what to say to you."

Hermione gave Ron one of her signature glares before turning her sympathetic eyes on Harry. "Harry, she's probably just still relieved that you made it out of that whole ordeal alive and this might be her way of showing it."

"Thanks, Hermione," said Harry, taking some solace in her words, "but I don't think that's it. Lately, it seems Ginny is two different people. There's the one you guys are used to seeing, then there's the one I'm more acquainted with, who now fights with me over the most insignificant and unimportant things. It's been like that for a while now."

"That doesn't sound like her at all," Hermione agreed. "Have you noticed any other unusual things about Ginny recently, Harry?"

"No. That's the only thing." Harry once again ruffled his hair. "Do you have any ideas?"

Hermione's eyes focused on nothing in particular. Her best friends each knew this was an indication that Hermione was racking her brains for a response. Finally, she shook her head.

"No. Sorry, Harry."

It was the first time in quite a while when Hermione _didn't _have an answer.

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By the time Harry and Ron were back at Auror Headquarters the next day, Harry seemed to barely be able to stay alert. The previous night, his dreams had been flooded with disturbing images of Ginny either dead or being killed by some vague, shapeless form while Harry stood a considerable distance away, unable to do anything. These dreams had caused Harry to awake rather violently many times during the night, which would probably explain why he felt like he had gotten only one hour of sleep in total. So that's why, in a groggy state, Harry sat at his desk in the bull pen, sipping from a cup of strong coffee and attempting to collect his thoughts in a way that would be considered organized.

Through the glass walls of The Situation Room, Harry could see Marcus conversing heatedly with a tall, bald man with a rough goatee and eyes as hard as stone. He wore robes of deepest blue and studied a file whenever he wasn't snapping at Marcus. Harry also noticed Ian and Ann sitting at the table as well, but they were rarely addressed. Whenever someone went against Liam Barnes, they had to pay the price for incurring his wrath.

Ron approached Harry at that moment, eyeing him with concern. "You look terrible," he said, commenting on Harry's outward appearance. "What, did a gang of trolls march into your room last night and start beating drums?"

"That would've been more comforting," Harry replied stiffly, his eyes closed as he fought to nod off on the spot.

"Ginny's still upset with you, then?"

"She barely said two words to me all night after you and Hermione left." Harry leaned back heavily in his chair as he continued to take in the strong taste of the coffee.

"Cheer up, mate," said Ron in an effort to lift Harry's spirits. "She can't stay mad at you much longer."

"True."

Harry glanced back over at The Situation Room, and saw Marcus standing at the window, signaling that Barnes now wanted to speak with him and Ron. Harry heaved a sigh and downed the rest of his coffee in one gulp, not caring how hot it all felt as it trickled down his throat.

"Oh, boy," Ron said sarcastically as Harry rose from his chair. "Time to get lectured on 'Standard Operating Procedure'."

Harry and Ron entered The Situation Room and took seats across from Barnes, a couple down from Ian and Ann, both of whom had stoic expressions.

For a while, the room was filled with such an impatient silence, the sound of a pin dropping would have been comparable to the explosion of a bomb. At long last, Barnes looked up from the file and fixed Harry and Ron with such a penetrating stare, Harry wondered if he might burn a whole in his chest.

"As you can imagine, Harry, I have quite a few questions of the obvious nature to ask you. So why don't we begin?"

Liam Barnes came from a mixed heritage. He had an American witch for a mother, but a British wizard for a father, and that combination was even evident in his name; 'Liam' for his British side and 'Barnes' to account for his American streak. His voice was thickly accented with English, deep but with a slight nasal tone to it, and his voice commanded attention wherever it was heard. And at the moment, neither Harry nor Ron dared let their focus waver from what Barnes was saying.

"You expressed in your report that you thought the mission still succeeded in some sense. Does that view still stand?"

"Sir, I --…"

"Does it still stand?" Barnes reiterated firmly.

Harry paused for effect before saying, "Yes, sir."

"Hm, well I've got two dead bodies downstairs that say otherwise." Barnes' tone was dry as he looked back down at the file in his hands.

"Sir, our objective was to extract John and Daniel from Malfoy Manor. That's what we managed to accomplish."

"But instead of coming home to their wives, they came home to two empty bodybags."

"That's definitely regrettable --…"

"No, it's _regrettable_ that men can go bald in their later years, so imagine how I must feel. This whole 'mission', if you could call it that, was poorly conceived and executed. And who came up with this plan? Was it _you_?" The question was aimed at Marcus, who started to give an answer, but was cut short by Harry.

"Liam, we did the best we could on such short notice."

"Did you?" Barnes closed the file and folded his hands on top of it as he leaned forward. "Well, here are a few more questions for you to consider? Didn't it strike you as odd that Lucius Malfoy didn't have any other, more advanced, security measures around his house? Or how about the fact you chose broomsticks as your avenue of freedom instead of opting for a Portkey or better yet, Apparition?"

"I took the liberty of considering those options." Marcus had managed to rejoin the discussion this time. "All of our Portkeys were currently in use, so they were unavailable, therefore they weren't a possibility."

"And, if you recall, we've recently had some trouble with injured Aurors Apparating back here," said Ron rather self-assuredly, Harry thought. "Considering that John and Daniel had already endured some pretty serious wounds, we didn't want to risk it."

"But Sybil Trelawney Apparated back here, and from what we could tell, the trip didn't affect her in the slightest."

"Well, Trelawney has more experience."

"But that still doesn't explain your general disregard for any wards Malfoy might've had around his home," Barnes continued rather snidely.

Everyone fell silent again. It was true, the possibility of wards had completely evaded their minds at the time.

"Using all this information, let me tell you about the conclusion I was able to come to. Malfoy _wanted_ you to mount a rescue attempt. In fact, he was counting on it, which would explain the lack of protective wards. It was his way of luring in various Aurors, so he could easily kill them. This theory of mine is supported by some recent intelligence we've gained on Lucius Malfoy."

Barnes slid the folder across the desk so that Harry could catch it. Harry felt Ron lean in closer so that he could look over his shoulder as he viewed the contents of the file, which had to do with Lucius Malfoy.

"As you can gather from that file, Malfoy has been meeting with various Dark Wizards, about what, we can't determine. But the fact that there seems to have been quite a bit of activity recently got our attention. What we can conclude from all this is that Malfoy's definitely planning something big, and we're gonna need all the Aurors at our disposal if that's true. Because when Lucius Malfoy is involved, things are never easy."

Barnes let all this sink in before he continued.

"So now you see why I didn't authorize the rescue of John and Daniel in the first place. I couldn't allow any of my people to fall into Malfoy's hands."

Harry looked back up from the file. "Now I gather that there was more to John and Daniel's mission than just getting Trelawney out."

It was like Barnes didn't even hear that last statement, because he avoided answering it altogether. He turned to Marcus. "Speaking of Trelawney, she still needs to be debriefed."

"I can do that," Harry volunteered, which caused Barnes to stare at him with a mixture of suspicion and curiosity. It was a look Harry remembered all too well from when Snape would give it to him during his years at Hogwarts.

"That's kind of you to volunteer, Harry, but we have others who are just as capable of carrying out something as simple as a debriefing."

"I want to do it," Harry insisted. "I'm the one who helped rescue Trelawney, so don't you think it's only fitting if I be the one who debriefs her? And Ron can observe."

Not only was Barnes still looking at Harry with his Snape impersonation, but Ron had also joined in by fixing his friend with a quizzical stare of his own.

"Alright, then," Barnes finally said. "You and Ron can handle it." Barnes lifted himself out of his chair and straightened any part of his robes he deemed untidy. "Now, if you'll excuse me, I have to go and tell John and Daniel's wives how their husbands died a heroic death."

Barnes then promptly exited The Situation Room and started climbing up the stairs leading to his office above, where John and Daniel's wives were no doubt waiting. Nobody else lingered long after that, as they all dismissed themselves and filed out into the bull pen.

Harry hung back and walked beside Marcus. "Marcus, what holding room do we have Trelawney in?"

"Room Five," Marcus replied.

"Thanks."

"I take it there's more to your desire to talk with Trelawney beyond closure?" Ron asked Harry as they made their way over to Harry's desk.

"Yeah," said Harry as he bent over a medium-sized mirror mounted on his desk and stared straight into it. "Holding Room Five," he said clearly.

The mirror's clear, reflective surface swirled as if it were the calm waters of an ocean suddenly spinning with the force of a whirlpool. When the spinning stopped, the mirror showed not Harry's reflection, but a view of a room with dull gray walls and a solitary bed pushed up against the far right corner. In the bed was Sybil Trelawney, who was clearly being treated for the injuries she had sustained during her stay at Malfoy Manor.

Healers who had been brought in to examine her had determined that she indeed require some treatment at St. Mungo's Hospital, but her transfer there would have to wait until after she had been asked a few questions.

"Come on," Harry said to Ron, who followed along in Harry's footsteps as they walked toward the collection of Holding Rooms.

"Are you even going to bother telling me what this is all about, or do I have to figure it out for myself?" inquired Ron once they came to a stop outside the door labeled "Holding Room 5".

"When Marcus first put us on the assignment," said Harry, turning to Ron, "he said that Lucius Malfoy had kidnapped Trelawney for an unknown reason. We now have reason to believe that the true purpose of John and Daniel's infiltration of Malfoy Manor extended beyond simply regaining Trelawney, given the evidence Barnes just showed us."

"No offense, Harry, but that can be considered purely speculative, given your point of view."

"Alright," Harry persisted. "Well try this one: when we were escaping from Malfoy Manor, John tried to tell me something. He said there _was_ more to it than finding Trelawney."

Ron's face brightened in comprehension. "So you think Trelawney can tell you exactly what Malfoy wanted with her and why it would prompt Barnes to send John and Daniel in to extract her."

"Precisely."

Harry took out his wand and lightly tapped it once against the lock on the handle of the door. The lock turned of its own accord until it gave an audible click, and Harry pushed the door open.

Trelawney was sitting upright in the bed, her back against a pillow. She was dressed in the usual white hospital gown and her feet were tucked underneath the blankets. The only thing about her appearance that was the same as Harry had remembered were her eyes, which were just as mysterious under those spectacles as the day Harry had met her.

When Trelawney's eyes fell upon Harry, she sat up even straighter in the bed. "Harry Potter!"

"Stand in the corner here," Harry mumbled to Ron under his breath. "Hello, Professor Trelawney," he greeted in a much louder and kinder voice after he had left Ron's side.

"Dear boy, you are no longer my student, so there really is no need for you to keep addressing me as 'Professor'."

"Old habits die hard, I guess," Harry shrugged as he pulled up the chair from the bedside table and sat down. "How are you feeling?"

"My fingers are still a bit sore from when you had to push them back into place, but other than that, my other wounds are healing quite well."

"I'm pleased to hear that. Now, you'll be treated more properly at St. Mungo's, but before we send you over there, I'm afraid we're going to have to go over your ordeal at Malfoy Manor."

"Such an unpleasant affair, that was," Trelawney said in a quavering whisper. "It was by Merlin's grace you came to my rescue."

"It's my job," Harry replied dismissively. "Listen, Professor, if you can remember anything about why Lucius Malfoy held you captive or if he asked you to do anything for him, it's very important that you tell me about it."

"Why?"

"Because it could give us an idea of how to stop Malfoy."

Trelawney's eyes wandered over to Ron, who was observing from the corner of the room. "What is he…?"

"You remember Ron Weasley, right? He's just listening in, that's all." Harry reached out and gently squeezed Trelawney's hand. "Sybil, please. It's vital that we learn all we can about what Lucius Malfoy is up to."

Trelawney leaned forward so that her nose and Harry's were nearly touching. "I sincerely wish I could help you, dear, but it would seem Mr. Malfoy performed some sort of memory charm on me, because I can't remember anything at all about any encounters I might have had with him." She leaned back in her bed.

"Damn it," Harry swore under his breath. "Are you certain?"

"My boy, I've practiced in the magic of the mind for many years. I'm positive I would recognize the after-effects of many memory charms, and I'm sensing those effects as we speak."

"That just confirms your theory, Harry," Ron said as he stepped out from the corner. "Whatever Lucius Malfoy is up to, he's going to a lot of trouble to ensure it doesn't get out in the open."

"And since Barnes authorized John and Daniel's mission, we can bet he knows more than he's letting on."

"Obviously."

But just then, Ron's face slackened and his eyes grew pretty wide at something that seemed to be just beyond Harry's right ear. When Harry turned his head around, it took him less than a second to see what was the cause of this.

Trelawney had suddenly went rigid in her bed, arms flat against her sides and her head pointed straight at the ceiling. Just like Ron, her eyes had become wide as saucers. She lay completely immobile, with not even a twitch in her fingers or a quiver in her lower lip.

"What d'you reckon is wrong with her?" Ron asked in a hushed tone, as if afraid a loud voice would cause something terrible to happen to Trelawney.

Harry already knew the answer, recognizing these signs as a seer who was on the verge of making an important prediction. Harry had to admit that while that it had been seven years since he had last seen Trelawney in this state, there was no mistaking what was transpiring.

But then something happened that wasn't part of the motions of predicting the future. Trelawney leaned forward and reached out with long, trembling fingers to grab the front of Harry's shirt and pull him in close. Trelawney looked at Harry with those wide eyes, but Harry doubted that she was able to register who he was.

Was this in fact her making a prediction? Because when Trelawney opened her mouth to speak, it was with a hoarse whisper and not the eerie booming of a voice he remembered from that moment in her classroom.

"In two days' time, nothing will be the same," Trelawney rasped in a haunting tone of voice. "A terrible force approaches, one that will create vast danger and cause lives to hang in the balance. Only two have the power to stop it!"

Once Trelawney had finished, she broke off into a short coughing fit before shaking her head, as if clearing it of a hazy fog that had descended upon her mind. After that, she opened her eyes and stared at Harry quite casually, as if nothing out of the ordinary, like a foreboding prediction for example, had happened.

Harry, however, looked at his old professor in the same way he had when the exact thing had occurred in his third year at Hogwarts.

"Sorry, my dear," said Trelawney as if the incident hadn't even happened. "Where were we?"

"Umm…" Harry uttered as he thought around for what he hoped would be a good response.

"Right," Ron muttered with a mixture of amusement and disbelief.

"You know what, there's really no more need to press you for answers if you don't have them," Harry responded as he finally managed to form a cohesive sentence. He got up from his chair. "We'll request that you be transferred to St. Mungo's as soon as possible. C'mon, Ron."

"That's much appreciated of you, Harry, dear," Trelawney called after him as he and Ron made their way to the door and opened it.

Harry inclined his head as if to say something back, but opted not to. He closed the door and stepped out into the hallway with Ron.

Ron was standing there with his hand over his mouth, waiting for the door to close before talking about what the pair of them had just seen. "Am I mistaken, or did Trelawney just make a prediction in there?"

"She did," Harry nodded. "And I didn't like the sound of it, either."

"You're telling me," said Ron as he glanced up and down the hall to make sure no prying ears would overhear the conversation. "From what I gather, whatever Malfoy's planning, he'll pose just as big a threat as Voldemort."

"Then that settles it. We need to ask Barnes why he sent John and Daniel to Malfoy Manor."

Harry and Ron walked back out into the bull pen and looked up toward Barnes' office. Barnes was currently with two young, beautiful women whose faces were clearly distraught, even from this distance. Harry recognized them as John and Daniel's wives and felt his heart sink in sympathy upon seeing their grief-filled faces.

"Well, maybe we could ask him at a more convenient time," suggested Ron.

Harry nodded as Marcus approached the two of them. "Done already?" he asked Harry, glancing at his watch. "That was quick. Learn anything useful?"

"Afraid not," Harry lied in what he hoped would sound like a disappointed tone of voice. "So we can go ahead and send her over to St. Mungo's."

"Alright, I'll get that set up, then." Marcus started to walk away, but halted in his tracks and turned back to face Harry and Ron. "By the way, the funeral for John and Dan is tomorrow, 10 a.m."

"That seems like fast planning," Ron remarked darkly, rather surprised.

"What can I say? Things were available at the right time." Marcus paused for a minute. "So, I guess I'll see you all there."

"Of course."

Harry and Ron then went back to their desks and did their best to stay focused for the rest of the day. They filled out the necessary paperwork and filed it where it needed to go. In essence, the only dull part of being an Auror, or any job, for that matter: the paperwork.

But Harry and Ron were distracted momentarily from the lifeless white parchment by two figures approaching their desks. They looked up to stare into the faces of Karen and Lara, John and Daniel's now widowed wives. Immediately, they both stood up from their seats.

"I…" Harry began, but was cut short by a wave of Karen's hand.

"Please, you don't have to say it. We both know you and Ron did your best to try and save them; they would have done the same for you. Just tell us one thing. Did they suffer?"

The question caught Harry off-guard somewhat, but he still answered it nonetheless with the truth. "No."

Apparently this gave Karen and Lara some sense of inner peace, as they both nodded and wiped away single strands of tears. They each then leaned in and gave Harry and Ron a quick but affectionate hug and then walked away towards the Exit, escorted by two men in black robes.

"It really makes you think, doesn't it?" Ron commented as he and Harry watched the widows silently walk away. "About holding on tighter to the ones you love."

"And making sure we don't turn either Ginny or Hermione into one of those grieving wives."

"Well that's a worry we won't have to fret over for a few months now," said Ron, smiling hopefully.

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Later that night, Ginny seemed to have lightened up a bit, as she had returned to addressing Harry with full sentences. The mood from the night before had evaporated and by the time Harry and Ginny went to bed, Harry was positive things were back to normal again.

But no matter how much he convinced himself that things would be fine, Harry still couldn't shake the feeling that there was something dark looming on the horizon.

Those doubts were expressed through the echoing voice of Trelawney: "_A terrible force approaches…_"


	4. The Letter

CHAPTER FOUR

_**THE LETTER**_

When Harry would look back on the funeral for John Milligan and Daniel McNally in the years to come, all he would remember is a morose ceremony with words from a priest that escaped his mouth, but would seem to drift away with the gentle breeze that day. The weather conditions for a funeral can either reflect the overall mood of the event, or negate it. In this case, it was the latter. With another day of bright sunshine and cool temperature, Harry considered it rather disrespectful, somewhat mutinous, for it to be so nice on a day when they were mourning the loss of friends.

But in what seemed like a darkly ironic moment, the sun peeked out from behind a large puffy cloud and shone down upon Karen and Lara the moment they stood up to place flowers upon the two sleek black coffins. Then came the procession of mourners who walked in between the two coffins and put flowers of their own on the cases of death.

Harry was one of the first to do so, lingering just a bit longer between each coffin than was necessary. As he walked away and towards the edge of the grassy cemetery, Harry was soon reminded of how he felt at Dumbledore's funeral, and he concluded that his feelings were equally sad. Harry had lost more people close to him over his 19 years of existence than most people lost in a lifetime, and it was the ones whom he loved most that caused the most pain.

As Harry stood there gazing out at the sea of graves sloped on grassy hills, he felt thin and gentle fingers entangle with his and squeeze tightly. Harry recognized the sweet smell of Ginny's perfume and squeezed back graciously.

"Let's go home," Ginny whispered softly in Harry's ear.

Harry nodded and both he and Ginny Disapparated back to their apartment.

They appeared in the kitchen and Harry checked the clock mounted on the wall. The time read 12 noon; he had no idea the funeral had taken so long. Then again, there was a bit more to a Wizard funeral than a Muggle one, hence why they took longer.

Without a word spoken between him and Ginny, Ginny went about starting to prepare lunch while Harry stepped into the main hallway to collect the mail, which was humped up in a pile at the base of the main door. Harry bent down and collected the mail, already flipping through it when he had returned to his full height.

Harry was making his way back to the kitchen when he came across something in the stack of envelopes that made him stop dead in his tracks. Staring him right in the face was a thin, pale brown envelope that had his address scribbled in what looked like a frantic longhand. But what had caught Harry's attention was the name of who it was from: _John Milligan._

The first thing that entered Harry's mind upon seeing this was the words John had spoken to him in the midst of the broomstick chase: _"Trelawney wasn't the only reason we were sent to infiltrate Malfoy Manor…"_

Harry had a good feeling that whatever John had meant by those words had to do with the envelope now in his hands. Perhaps the answer to that mystery was concealed inside.

Making sure that Ginny was occupied with her dealings in the kitchen, Harry stuffed the other letters underneath his armpit and tore open John's. Harry hurriedly extracted the folded-over piece of parchment inside and idly discarded the envelope. With a mounting sense of anticipation, Harry unfolded the paper and read what was written on it. To his slight disappointment, there were only seven words scribbled in ink, but Harry was positive they had a high level of importance:

"_The Book of Merlin –_

_William Donovan_

_Trust No One."_

The Book of Merlin? Harry couldn't recall ever hearing of such a thing, and his numerous adventures in the Wizard world had involved countless pieces of magical and, in some cases, historical significance. But the fact that the name was followed by the words _"Trust No One"_ piqued Harry's curiosity considerably. However, Harry was more curious as to how exactly a book could cause enough commotion that involved the killing of two of his friends. But if the book had something to do with Merlin, arguably the reason why Harry's world even existed, then Harry could start to form some idea of its significance.

And who was this William Donovan? Someone who could elaborate on the book, perhaps?

The sizzling of the contents of a pan sitting on the stove brought Harry back to his home, and he picked up the torn envelope before re-entering the kitchen. When he did, Harry threw the envelope into the trash bin and pocketed the letter after he had folded it back up. Harry then placed the other envelopes of mail on the counter. He really didn't want to upset Ginny again, so he figured he'd keep the matter out of her hair for now.

And so, Harry and Ginny ate their lunch without Harry bringing up any mention of the letter at all. At lunch's end, Harry casually said something about having to finish a bit more paperwork at the office and that it would only take two hours, maximum. Thankfully, Ginny didn't seem to have a problem with this.

But Harry didn't have any paperwork to finish. In reality, he wanted to go into the office, where he knew Ron would be (because Ron actually _did_ have paperwork to complete), and show him the letter. If Harry's hunch was correct, they'd just been presented with another piece of the puzzle.

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"The Book of Merlin…" Ron thoughtfully repeated the words again, as if saying it three times in a row with a contemplative tone might spark a lightbulb inside his head. "Doesn't ring any bells at all," he said, finally giving up.

"Well, it's obviously important enough to make Lucius Malfoy go to desperate lengths for it," replied Harry as he sat in his desk chair and studied the piece of paper with intense eyes.

"Did you consider running a few magical tests on that paper, just in case there may be something such as a message in invisible ink?"

"I did that right when I got here. There's nothing else; just three phrases: "The Book of Merlin", "William Donovan", and "Trust No One"."

"Let me see that."

Harry handed the paper to Ron so he could examine it with his own eyes. But flipping it over continuously would obviously do nothing to reveal any invisible message.

"Okay, well, onto the next question: who is William Donovan?" Ron inquired.

"Dunno," replied Harry. "But the name certainly does sound familiar."

"Hang on," Ron jerked his head up suddenly. "William Donovan. That's the name of someone who works in close proximity with The Minister. I even think Donovan is the name of someone on Kingsley's staff."

"So you're saying that this thing could trace all the way back to The Minister of Magic himself?" Harry let this sink in for a moment before pressing on. "But the fact that John put Donovan's name _before_ the words "Trust No One" possibly suggests that Donovan may be able to help us."

Ron nodded in agreement. "Perhaps this is John's way of communicating that we need to go to Donovan; that he was a contact in the upper tiers of the Ministry."

"If that's true, how do we go about getting his attention?"

Ron shrugged. "We could always ask Marcus or someone to help out."

"No," Harry said firmly. "Until we've been acquainted with the full facts, it's best to keep this between ourselves. And Hermione."

Ron jolted upright from his slouched position as if his chair had been zapped by electricity, his face suddenly aglow with realization. "Harry, that's it! Hermione! We know how smart she is, so most likely, she'll be able to tell us what The Book of Merlin is, exactly. I bet you anything she came across at least _some_ mention of it during her studies."

Hermione, their residential fountain of knowledge. Of course. She had always been the one to turn to whenever answers needed to be obtained, and she had always delivered. But once they were out of school, Hermione's bossy and know-it-all attitude had diminished considerably, allowing for a more relaxed, fun and deeply caring side of her to emerge. Not that she wasn't always those things during her years at Hogwarts, but it was now that they were more pronounced than before. But with Hermione naturally being Hermione, her smarts still made themselves known whenever they needed to be.

"Nice thinking, Ron. But wouldn't Hermione be busy with something at this time of day?" Harry checked his wristwatch. "The Magical Law Division is one of the busiest branches of the Ministry."

"You're telling me," Ron scoffed. "Most of the time, she doesn't get home til around eight or so." Ron gazed around, clearly thinking. "But yeah, if I remember right, she's in the middle of an important meeting by now."

"Don't suppose there's any chance you know what time that meeting's scheduled to be over?"

Ron shook his head. "Nope. Those things usually run over schedule, anyway. There's no telling when she'll be free to help us."

The time on Harry's watch had read 2:00 sharp. He figured he had about one more hour before he had to return home to Ginny, so he decided he'd try and use the time wisely.

"Shall we go try and see Donovan, then?" he asked Ron rather casually.

"What?"

"Why not? We have the time."

"Uhh, actually, _you_ have the time. I'm under the gun with the rest of this paperwork as it is. And I don't need another reason for Barnes to chew out my ass. You go on ahead and tell me what you find out; I'll still be here." Ron glanced down at the small mountain of papers on his desk and snorted. "Boy, all that time slacking off has really come back to bite me, hasn't it?"

Harry smirked and walked over towards the lift elevator that would take him to the floor where the Minister's office, and those of everyone who worked directly alongside him, were located. Harry stepped inside the lift and pushed the appropriate button before he was whisked up at an alarming speed towards his desired level.

Within seconds, the doors of the lift slid back to reveal a long, sleek brick area that was occupied by an array of seemingly endless cubicles that separated Harry from the doors of actual offices on the opposite side of the area. The brick walls had a reddish hue, as expected, but this particular brand of red wasn't the usual dull rusty one that bricks were colored. This color of red was that vibrant kind that kids are attracted to so much; it seemed cool, to say the least. It looked like there was a red spotlight shining down upon the walls, yet the ceilings were completely devoid of anything remotely resembling a spotlight.

Harry walked the route around the collection of cubicles, countless enchanted memos in the form of paper airplanes whizzing past his head. He also had to weave in and out of witches and wizards dressed in robes and pointed hats of varying colors. Every one of these people was engaged in a conversation with the other, not particularly paying attention to their course of direction. It took dodging little more than fifteen people to reach the Reception desk stationed outside the row of offices.

The witch sitting behind the desk had her lightly colored hair held up in a tightly wound bun and was busy reading a small paperback romance novel written by a famous witch writer. She wore glasses that had a chain strapped to the arms so that the witch could leave them hanging around her neck whenever she didn't need them. The small triangular nameplate positioned at the front of her desk read "Dorothy".

Harry cleared his throat politely, which caused Dorothy to look up from her book. When she saw who it was, Dorothy smiled brightly.

"Oh, hello, Harry!" The two of them were obviously on first name terms.

"Good afternoon, Dorothy," Harry said warmly in response. "Is William Donovan in? I was hoping I could speak with him."

Dorothy let her glasses dangle around her neck. "I'm afraid William has set out on an urgent matter and won't be back in the office until tomorrow."

Harry slightly frowned.

"Can I leave him a message for you?" Dorothy reached for a pad of paper and a quill.

"Just tell him it's important that he speaks with me the first chance he gets. Official Auror business."

Dorothy carefully copied down the request and tore off the piece of paper from the pad, placing it directly in her line of sight. "I'll make sure he gets it."

"Thanks. So, is this promotion working out well for you?"

"Definitely. It's a big improvement over sorting out the mail. I'm still grateful to you for pulling the strings to get me this job."

"It was no problem, really. Well, I'd better get back downstairs."

"Oh, yes. You have _quite_ the schedule lined up for the next few days, I'd imagine." Dorothy flashed a toothy smile.

"Yeah," said Harry as he returned it. "Well, I'll see you around."

And with that, Harry went back to the lift and traveled down to the Auror level, quite disappointed at Donovan's absence. Harry hadn't walked three steps when he heard a familiar voice say his name.

"Harry."

Ginny was walking towards him, dressed in a dark green blouse and light jeans; the colors complemented her red hair rather nicely.

"Hey," said Harry as he paused in his tracks to greet her. "What's up?"

Ginny lightly took Harry's hand and guided him over to a corner, where the two of them could speak privately. Once they were well out of hearing range, Ginny folded her arms across her chest and looked up, somewhat apologetically, into Harry's eyes.

"I'm sorry, Harry," she said in a voice barely above a whisper. "I know that I was completely out of line the other night. I shouldn't have snapped at you like that. I guess…I guess I was just overwhelmed and that seemed like the only way to get my emotions out at the time."

"It's okay," Harry breathed gently, cupping Ginny's face in his palms. Harry leaned in to try and kiss her, but Ginny turned her face away and placed Harry's hands back down by his sides, which really caused him to become confused as to what she was doing.

"No, it's not okay," Ginny continued, her voice swelling in emotion with each word. "When we first got together, I convinced myself that I would be able to handle you going out and risking your life every day. And for a while, I was able to without second-guessing myself. But as time went on, I found it increasingly difficult to keep caring about you as much as I did during our time at Hogwarts."

By now, Harry was definitely _not_ liking where Ginny was headed with this. But he didn't dare interrupt her.

"And that's the problem. I don't think I can say that I'm in love with you anymore. I had been in love with you for so many years before then, I thought I could adapt to any changes I needed to make for you. But the truth is I can't." Tears were streaking down Ginny's cheeks, but Harry made no attempt to brush them away. "I just can't be in a relationship where I always have to be worried that I'll come home to the news that you've been killed in action. And I don't want to have to deal with the grief that comes with it. These past few days have made that clear."

"I can change that," Harry said desperately. "I can put in for a different position in the Ministry."

"C'mon, Harry," Ginny uttered dryly. "We both know you're meant to be _here_, helping people because it's what you do best. You're equipped to handle all of the emotions that come with the job of being an Auror. I'm not."

It took all of Harry's strength not to break down in a similar fashion to Ginny. "So what are you saying?" He had to hear the exact words.

Ginny slowly slid the engagement ring off her finger and put it in Harry's right hand. "I'm saying that we were never meant to be together. I'm saying goodbye, Harry." She planted an affectionate final kiss on Harry's lips before walking towards the Exit, never looking back.

The last image Harry had of Ginny before she disappeared from sight was of her flaming red hair swishing behind her as she hung her head gloomily.

In a daze, Harry went back to his desk and sat down, still disbelieving of what had just happened. He plopped himself down in his chair, Ginny's engagement ring never leaving his grasp. He shifted the ring so that it was now resting between his thumb and index finger, the tiny jewels encrusted around the outside sparkling once the light caught them at just the right angle.

Unable to look at it any longer, Harry opened a drawer in his desk and stuffed the ring inside it. Now there was just one memento of his time with Ginny left within sight: a moving photograph of the two of them together taken right after Harry had proposed. The picture showed them hugging tightly before kissing passionately. The image replayed over and over, prompting Harry to reach out and push the picture frame facedown.

Harry glanced over at Ron, who was just finishing up his work. Once he had dropped his quill into a small holder, Ron gathered up his papers and stood from his chair, but not before he noticed Harry's sudden change in mood.

"What's wrong?"

"Would you mind if I stayed with you and Hermione tonight?" Harry asked without preamble.

"Not at all," Ron answered without hesitation. "You and Ginny have another row?"

"We broke up, Ron," Harry said stiffly.

The words had the same effect on Ron as a sucker punch to the gut. "What?! Why?"

"She said she couldn't take my being in harm's way anymore. She told me she couldn't bear to live in fear of my safety for the rest of her life and that she doubted that she had ever truly loved me again since I survived the Second War."

Ron lowered himself back into his own chair, his face the model of surprise. "I…don't know what to say, Harry."

"You don't have to say anything. And you don't even need to apologize. After all, this isn't _your_ fault. It's mine." Harry took off his glasses and rubbed his eyes. "I should have shown her more of my love for her. I should've made her feel that she _was_ more important to me than this job."

"Who says it's too late to fix this?"

Harry looked up and replaced his glasses. "I'm not even sure I _want _to fix this, Ron. I feel miserable for doing this to Ginny, and yet there's a part of me that's telling me Ginny was never the right one for me."

"So what're you going to do now?"

"I'm not sure yet. But I _am_ sure that I'll figure it out eventually."

Ron waited a few more moments to see if Harry would say anything else; he didn't. After that, he rose up again from his chair. "Right, well, uh, I'm gonna go turn these papers in. If you want to talk when I come back, just know that I'm here."

Harry didn't watch as Ron sidled away. He didn't feel in the mood to talk any more about what just happened. After all, what else was there to talk about?

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Ginny knew that tears were still escaping her moist eyes, but amazingly, they were unaccompanied by the obligatory sense of despair that caused anybody's heart to feel like it was being twisted in between a pair of hands belonging to a bodybuilder. Nonetheless, Ginny had concluded that she needed the counseling of her mother to get through this, so once she was out the doors of the Ministry, she would Apparate to The Burrow.

She came to a halt just outside a door that had been left ajar in a corridor leading to the main lobby of the Ministry. Ginny leaned against the wall, wiping her eyes in a feeble attempt to make her appearance less troubling to any onlookers in the lobby. Ginny had cleared away the edges of her eyes and straightened her blouse a bit when she heard voices filtering out into the corridor through the open door next to her. The voices were primarily hushed, causing Ginny to strain in order to hear what was being said. But as soon as she had caught enough of the conspiratorial-sounding conversation to grasp its concept, Ginny immediately wished she wasn't there at that specific moment.

"Everything's in place," the first voice was saying. "Tomorrow is when we strike."

"But how can we be sure that the information on the security is reliable?" asked a second voice. This one had a cold drawl that Ginny seemed to vaguely recognize, but couldn't place.

"Are you doubting where my loyalties lie, Lucius?" Not only did this third voice confirm that the owner of the second voice was Lucius Malfoy, but it also made Ginny's blood run cold and her jaw drop. She instantly recognized who this person was, and the next few words they spoke made a wave of surprise come crashing down on Ginny. "I'm giving you this information at great personal cost. If we wish to carry out the deed, it has to be done by tomorrow, due to unforeseen circumstances presenting themselves."

"And Potter?" asked the smooth, almost kind first voice. "Are we sure we can eliminate him in this attack?"

"If not," replied the third voice coolly, "we know exactly who to use to lure him to us."

"And if Potter survives?" snapped Lucius Malfoy.

"You forget, Lucius, how drastically I pledged myself to this cause when I joined these ranks. I've implemented means of ensuring Harry Potter's death if this kidnapping fails. If there's one thing I've learned in this business, it's to always plan ahead."

There came an uncomfortable pause.

"So it's settled, then," the first voice spoke up with a note of finality about it. Neither of the other two voices said anything in response, so Ginny assumed the two people were nodding their heads in agreement.

Ginny did her best to try and creep away soundlessly, but in her hurry, she accidentally stumbled with her first few steps. The thumping of her feet fighting to regain footing was obviously loud enough to attract the attention of the three individuals inside, because hurried footsteps came from the other side of the door.

Ginny estimated that by the time they had pulled the door open, the three conspirators would have been able to see her fleeting form. However, she didn't doubt that would have been enough for the third person to recognize her.

"Was that Ginny Weasley?" Lucius Malfoy inquired of the third person with a sneer in his voice.

"It was," the third individual answered darkly. "I think she overheard us."

The first man briefly considered the situation before muttering his reply. "Follow her."


	5. Attack On The Ministry

CHAPTER FIVE

_**ATTACK ON THE MINISTRY**_

The running of water accompanied by the clanging of dishes and the clinking of silverware were the sounds that woke Harry the next morning. After he had groggily opened his eyes, his surroundings were a reminder that he had slept through the night on Ron and Hermione's pull-out sofa. Harry picked up his glasses off of the small table beside the sofa, upon which a solitary lamp was perched, and put them on so that the room came into focus.

Much like Harry's apartment, Ron and Hermione's was a mixture of the mundane and the magical. However, Ron and Hermione's collection of magical artifacts was more obvious to the naked eye, with many whirring and enchanted objects going through their motions of fantastical abilities with expert precision. Of course, with someone like Hermione living here, the bookshelves were larger and fuller than the ones back in Harry's apartment, and the books themselves were thicker. But overall, Hermione's sense of decoration appeared to be better than Ginny's, because this apartment's design had the power to warm the heart of anyone who stepped foot inside.

Harry tossed back the covers on the pull-out sofa and got up, stretching his back to wake himself even more. Outside, the sky was a dull gray, which cast the living room in a pale white light. Harry then made his way into the kitchen, where Hermione (already dressed), was going about fixing breakfast whilst she had enchanted various other kitchen appliances to help her in her task.

Harry silently took a seat at the circular little table which sat beside the refrigerator, so Hermione didn't notice he was there until she had turned around to put plates down.

"Morning." Harry attempted to sound as cheerful as he could, but he could tell it still came out tinged with a bit of left-over gloom.

Hermione's "Morning", likewise, countered Harry's by having sympathy in it. When silence uncomfortably followed, Hermione asked one of the textbook questions for a situation like this. "Did you sleep well last night?"

"I slept…okay," Harry answered truthfully.

Hermione nodded in understanding as she took Harry's hand. "Harry, I can't even imagine how you must be feeling right now. And I'm not going to sit here and try to give you words of advice if you aren't ready to receive them. All I'm going to say right now is that if you ever want to talk about it, I'll always be available."

Harry looked into Hermione's eyes, which were shining with care, and he gave her hand an appreciative squeeze. "Hermione, I can't even begin to describe how good of a friend you've been to me all these years."

"You don't have to," Hermione replied.

Hermione's hand lingered in Harry's for just a bit longer before they each let go, allowing Hermione to return to fixing the food. Harry couldn't help watching Hermione go about this routine, curiously amused by how she seemed to know exactly what to do without even thinking.

By the time Ron had come into the kitchen, breakfast was ready and he took a seat beside Harry, fully dressed himself.

"How is she?" Harry asked plainly.

The night before, Ron had dropped by The Burrow to check up on Ginny, because Ginny had arrived to an empty home; Mr. and Mrs. Weasley had both been summoned away on urgent family affairs and everybody else except Ron hadn't been available to console their sister. As a matter of fact, Ron had spent the night there with Ginny.

"Surprisingly, she's taking it the same way you are," Ron replied as he helped himself to some butter and toast. "But she still doesn't want to be alone, so I promised I'd go back today. At least until Mum and Dad show up."

"Does Barnes know about that?" Harry still hadn't touched any of his food.

"Yeah," said Ron through a mouthful of eggs and toast. "Besides, all my work for the Malfoy Manor case is done."

This show of slothfulness caused Hermione to arch an eyebrow in Ron's direction. Ron caught sight of it and swallowed.

"What? It's not like Harry hasn't seen me eat like this before."

Hermione rolled her eyes. "Harry, before Ron left for The Burrow last night, he mentioned something about a book I could help you with?"

Harry suddenly remembered what he had wanted to ask her. "Oh, yes. Now, keep in mind that for the time being, this needs to remain strictly confidential." When Hermione gave a nod of her head that clearly stated "Of course", Harry pressed on. "Right after the funeral, I received a letter from John; pre-mailed, obviously. On it were only seven words: The Book of Merlin, William Donovan, and Trust No One. We were able to figure out that Donovan was someone on the Minister's direct staff, but we still haven't discovered anything about The Book of Merlin. We were hoping you could fill in that blank, Hermione."

"The Book of Merlin?" Hermione leaned back in her chair, her mind already searching for any memory of those words. "I don't recall reading anything about it. But what did it have to do with John?"

"Ron and I believe it was why he and Daniel were sent to Malfoy Manor. Possibly to find out how much Lucius Malfoy knew about it."

"But the only problem is we haven't the vaguest clue as to what weight The Book carries in the Wizard world," Ron added.

"So we need to go to the one person we _know_ can help us," said Harry. "William Donovan. Now, according to his secretary, he should be back in his office today."

"I wish I could go with you, mate, but…" Ron trailed off heavily.

"That's alright." Harry looked back at Hermione. "I'd like Hermione to come with me."

Hermione's eyes widened. "What? Why me?"

"I've been through this routine before. And people in Donovan's position almost always want legal counsel present when they have to divulge certain information. Since Hermione works in the Law Division, that saves me a lot of trouble."

"What if Donovan's dangerous?" pressed Ron, pushing his chair back and rising.

"Relax, Ron. She'll be with me…a trained Auror, remember? I'll make completely sure Hermione stays out of harm's way." Ron looked as if he was searching for a retaliation to that, so Harry quickly added on to his statement. "Look, you want to get some answers about The Book, right? As of now, this is our best option."

"It's okay, Ron," Hermione said reassuringly. "I know how to defend myself if I have to. And Harry's an expert Auror."

Ron swept over to Hermione's side and kissed her firmly. "You just be careful."

"I will."

With that, Harry wolfed down his breakfast in his desire to get to the Ministry as quickly as he could. When both he and Hermione were done, they got up and were preparing to depart when Ron grabbed Harry by the arm and pulled him to the side.

"I just remembered something I wanted to tell you earlier," he said.

"What is it?" By now, Harry had magically replaced his pajamas with a more appropriate attire.

"Last night, when I was with Ginny, I got the distinct feeling that we were being watched."

Harry suddenly perked up with concern. "_Were_ you?"

Ron shook his head. "If we were, whoever it was must've realized my suspicion, because when I did a check around outside, there was no one there. But I'm telling you, Harry, it was like a pair of eyes was boring right into the back of my head."

Harry pondered this for a minute. "If the same thing happens again today, send Pigwidgeon to me immediately and I'll come there straight away."

"Okay." Ron glanced over at Hermione, who was standing by the kitchen archway, patiently waiting for Harry. "You two better get going. After all, you've got some important information to get. I want to hear about everything as soon as you can tell me."

Harry nodded. He started to step toward Hermione, but lingered momentarily. He was on the verge of inquiring further about Ginny, but decided to hold his tongue. Instead, Harry gave Ron a final nod that showed his feelings of encouragement before he exited the apartment alongside Hermione.

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As it so happened, William Donovan turned out to be waiting for Harry and Hermione. Well, he had been expecting an Auror in general, to be exact, because he showed no signs of surprise as Dorothy ushered Harry first into his office, followed closely by Hermione. Maybe it was just a trick of the light, but Harry thought Donovan seemed a little too relaxed, given the situation he was currently in.

On top of that, William Donovan was nothing like the image Harry had conjured up in his mind of the contact. Whereas Harry had been half-expecting for Donovan to have the appearance of someone like Peter Pettigrew, a mousy little man who seemed like the right kind of wind would knock him over, the real Donovan was instead much younger and handsome-looking. Underneath a mass of dark brown hair were eyes that radiated not only self-confidence, but also an easygoing and friendly nature. But the latter was soon replaced with relief, while the confidence turned to anxious fear.

"Merlin's Beard, you have no idea how relieved I am to see you." Donovan's voice teetered on the edge of the line that separated high-pitched from deep and resonant. "That will be all, thank you, Dorothy," he added to his secretary. Dorothy nodded and showed herself out.

Harry and Hermione moved toward the two chairs situated in front of Donovan's desk, noticing the cluttered mess that was his office as they did. "Mr. Donovan, I assume you already know why I'm coming to see you," Harry said as he took a seat.

"Indeed." Donovan then pulled a black briefcase from under his desk and plopped it down upon his cleared-off desk. "But before I say anything, I want assurances that I'll be protected."

Harry indicated Hermione. "Miss Hermione Granger works for the Magical Law Division, so anything you tell us --…"

"Not _that_ kind of protection," Donovan interrupted. "The kind of protection that only Aurors can provide."

"That depends entirely on the depth of the information you can provide," replied Harry. "Now, we came here today because John Milligan sent me a letter after he died. It suggested that I ask you about --…"

"Not here," Donovan hissed. "The people who are involved in this, they have ways of listening in that even the Ministry's best security measures can't account for. I want you to get me to a secure place where you're sure we won't be overheard."

"How can we be sure what information you _do_ have is valuable?" Hermione inquired.

"There have already been three failed attempts on my life. Is that proof enough for you?" Donovan got out of his chair in a flash, swinging his briefcase out in front of him like a protective shield. "Look, the people behind this plot are already aware of how much I know. I need to get out of their reach before they actually manage to kill me."

Harry and Hermione gave each other the same look of agreement and they rose to their feet. Harry already had his wand out.

"There's an Auror safehouse just outside the city," he said. "We'll get you there and then you'll tell us what you know."

Harry and Hermione began to lead the way toward the office door, but before they could reach it, the door opened of its own accord by way of a burst of wind that was strong enough to open the door, but too weak to send anyone to the floor. The wind was followed by a pure black owl swooping into the office, a pale yellow envelope clutched between its beak. The black owl dropped the envelope at Harry's feet and then soared back out, evidently needing no payment.

Harry stooped down and picked up the envelope. Two words were written in solid black ink upon the front, every letter capitalized to emphasize the importance and urgency of the words: _"OPEN ME"_. Harry did as he was directed and tore open the envelope without wasting any precious seconds.

What Harry read next only made his blood run cold, but also caused him to whirl around on the spot, his wand already aimed.

"_STUPEFY!"_

Donovan had been pointing his own wand at Harry, but the beam of red light that burst forth from Harry's wand still caught him off-guard. Harry's spell sent Donovan's now immobile form flying into a bookshelf behind him, which caused a shower of books to rain down upon Donovan.

"Harry!"

Hermione's voice carried absolute shock, but instead of voicing an answer, Harry instead chose to shove the piece of parchment at Hermione. Hermione took the paper from Harry's hand and quickly read over the contents, her eyes growing wide as she did.

"He's…an impostor? But…how?"

Harry bent over the immobile form of the person impersonating Donovan, his mind already finding possibilities. "Polyjuice Potion, Confundus Charm, you take your pick."

"But, Harry…the second line of this letter. It says we have to get to the Ministry Atrium now. It's signed 'The Shadow'. Who could that be?"

"Most likely an alias."

Just then, Dorothy came rushing into the room, probably to investigate the source of the sound the impostor had made when he crashed into the bookshelf. When Dorothy laid eyes on the person in question, she adopted a confused expression.

"That's not Mr. Donovan!"

Harry stood up. "But you showed us inside. You saw him."

"Confundus Charm," Hermione said to Harry. "He must've cast it over everybody on this floor. Very clever."

"Do you recognize him now?" Harry asked Dorothy, assuming the Confundus Charm on her had worn off.

"No," Dorothy answered plainly after a few seconds of concentration.

"Okay, we need to leave him to other Aurors." Harry walked over to stand beside Hermione and reclaimed the letter. He reread it two times before looking back up. "Why would we need to get to the Atrium?"

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The answer to Harry's question happened to be standing near the reception desk inside the Ministry Atrium, engaged in a deep discussion with a few members of his staff.

Kingsley Shacklebolt had been elected Minister of Magic not long after the terror caused by Lord Voldemort had come to an end two years ago. There had been no competition, as everyone in the Wizarding world had no doubts that Kingsley was the perfect man for the job. During his time in office, Kingsley had enacted several changes in legislation that were for the best. For example, in honor of Remus Lupin, Kingsley had abolished the laws that people like Dolores Umbridge had so callously created as a form of discrimination against werewolves and other magical creatures. He also took into careful consideration pieces of legislation Hermione had come up with that concerned the treatment of house elves. Not only did he consider them, he put them into action, much to the delight of Hermione.

In terms of things at the Ministry itself, Kingsley had eradicated some of the positions, as well as the people who occupied them, that Voldemort had managed to infiltrate. The positions that Kingsley deemed unnecessary or contrary to his aim to make the Ministry of Magic a better place were exterminated and replaced with ones that would push the Wizarding world toward a better governmental system.

All in all, Kingsley was considered the best Minister of Magic to have come along in quite a few years.

The conversation Kingsley was having right now happened to concern Magical Law Enforcement. He was so enraptured in what he was saying, he didn't notice the gang of black-cloaked wizards halt a few feet away from his group and form a straight line. As if they were all robots programmed to the exact same frequency, each wizard withdrew their wand, pointing them upward so that an array of red sparks erupted from the tips and caused a loud BANG! to reverberate off the walls. The wizards didn't stop there, however, as they all then turned their wands upon the floor. As a result, the polished dark wood floor's smooth surface erupted as chunks of it flew into the air, causing everyone inside the main hall to duck. That is, everyone except the ones who had caused the disturbance.

All of the cloaked wizards had faces hard as stone, but the most easily distinguishable one was the man who stood at the center of them all. He had long, flowing blond hair and a sinister sneer on his face that seemed to be permanent. Lucius Malfoy aimed his wand at the Minister's group.

"Cooperate," he muttered in his cold drawl, "and no one will have to die."

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Harry put the finishing touches on a glowing blue bar that stretched across the length of Donovan's office door. The magical lock would hold not only make sure none of the immobilized impostor's compatriots would attempt to free him via this main door, but Harry and Hermione had also placed wards over any other possible entrance to the office, such as holes in the walls, windows and especially the fireplace.

Harry and Hermione didn't have time to question the person who had masqueraded as William Donovan if the letter from this Shadow person was to be taken seriously. They had told Dorothy to wait by the door until reinforcements had come to collect the impostor and had just turned their backs on the frightened secretary when all of a sudden there came a violent shaking that sent tremors through the ground. Harry and Hermione had to hold onto each other to keep from falling over, but they didn't dare let go when the shaking stopped, for fear of a second wave.

When it never came, Harry gave a nervous glance at Hermione. "It sounded like it came from the Atrium."

Without another word, the two of them Apparated from where they stood and appeared on the floor of the Atrium. The sight that was waiting for them was one of foreboding.

Lucius Malfoy and people whom Harry could without a doubt guess were his cronies had their wands out and trained upon the Minister of Magic and a few members of his direct staff. Making sure not to be seen or heard, Harry and Hermione crept behind a nearby bluish brick column, which was a part of one of the numerous fireplaces lining each wall. Harry saw Hermione reflexively take out her wand and hold it in a ready position. As far as Harry knew, the last time Hermione had engaged in a duel was during the Battle of Hogwarts two years ago, but there was no denying the fierce fire raging in her eyes as she examined the situation before them.

Malfoy had cornered Kingsley and his staff past the newly added reception desk and against the enormous fountain with the four golden statues inside it that spurted water from various openings. Now, either Malfoy had caught them all extremely off guard and it froze them or they simply didn't wish to risk fighting back because none of Malfoy's targets drew their wands or performed any sort of retaliatory action.

"What is it you want, Lucius?" Kingsley's voice was cool and controlled, giving the impression that he and Malfoy were having a casual conversation over tea.

"I believe you already know the answer to that question, Minister." Malfoy's wand never wavered, and his other hand was visibly holding the top of the cane he dragged everywhere. To further solidify Malfoy's position as one of power, the crater in the floor where one of his henchman's curses had wrecked the surface was still smoldering. "You've involved yourself in matters that do not concern you, so now it's time for you to pay the price."

"Go ahead," said Kingsley, the defiance in his voice barely discernable, "kill me. It'd be surprising if you make it two steps after that."

Malfoy chuckled condescendingly, and the noise echoed off the walls eerily due to the utter silence filling the hall. All the while, Harry and Hermione were stealthily moving from behind one fireplace column to the next, edging as close as could be allowed without being spotted.

"Why, Minister, I'm fully aware that I'd be signing my own death warrant if I _did_ kill you within these walls. No, I'm much too smart to do that. Instead, I'm going to take you somewhere where we can have a more _intimate_ conversation."

Out of the corner of his eye, Kingsley spotted Harry and Hermione. He didn't need Harry's frantic motions to tell him to stall for a bit longer.

"And where would that be?"

"That's for me to know and you to find out." Quite easily, Malfoy stepped forward and roughly seized Kingsley by the arm. He barely had time to even think about Disapparating before Malfoy heard a confident voice booming from a short distance away.

"One more move, Lucius, and it _will_ be your last."

Both Harry and Hermione had emerged into the fray, wands level with Malfoy's chest. They appeared quite the duo, but it didn't have the desired effect on Malfoy.

He chuckled once more; Harry didn't doubt that Malfoy was thoroughly enjoying this by now. "Ah, well, if it isn't The Dream Team. Intending to be the noble hero yet again, are we, Potter?"

"I do it just to spite you," Harry spat back.

Malfoy smirked as his eyes diverted to Hermione. "You know, Mudbloods shouldn't even be permitted to carry wands anymore. It's such a waste, seeing as how they're unworthy to carry them."

Hermione took a menacing step forward and scowled with deepest loathing as Harry shot crackling red sparks from his wand. They landed at Malfoy's feet.

"The next one will be right on target," Hermione said coldly. "Let the Minister go."

"I don't have any time for your naivete, Granger. The Minister and I are walking out of here without any trouble."

"I respectfully disagree," said Kingsley.

In a move Harry suspected Kingsley could have only learned during his stint as an Auror, the Minister of Magic twirled Malfoy's arm off his own and whipped out his wand in the same motion, pointing it straight at Malfoy's left temple. Kingsley didn't say a word before a red burst of light emanated from his wand and shot at Malfoy, but was subsequently blocked and sent toward the brick wall opposite Malfoy; the Shield Charm Malfoy had conjured up shone in a midnight blue haze as Kingsley's Stunning Curse created a hole in the wall. Malfoy's shield was instantly retracted by him and he shot off a Stunning Curse of his own, but it was deflected by an orange ball of light Harry had cast. But more specifically, the orange ball opened up as if it had a mouth and literally swallowed Malfoy's curse.

That was when the battle began.

Harry and Hermione lunged forward with their wands in the same instant as Malfoy's men, and the result was madness. A cacophony of multicolored lights flew in midair, and they either exploded upon contact with one another or missed their human targets entirely and devoured chunks of wall and floor. However, the most common occurrences of that were at the beginning, due to each witch or wizard engaged in combat being expert duelers.

Harry was currently fighting a pug-faced wizard with close-cropped hair and a strong build. Evidently, this appearance was an indicator of the level of this man's intellect, as it took Harry less than one minute to disarm him. Harry did so by aiming his wand at the wizard's feet, where soon after a yellow-orange length of magical rope shot out from his wand and wrapped itself around the man's ankles. Harry gave a hard tug, which caused the wizard to go soaring through the air and straight into the brick wall. Once the wizard was knocked unconscious, Harry squeezed on his wand and the magical rope flew back inside its source.

Harry barely had any time to prepare for his next attacker, as he was charging toward him at a breakneck pace, hurling enchanted bricks at him. Harry quickly ducked low and used his wand to draw a colorless circle in the space before him. He then placed his wand (which was still clutched tightly in his fingers) at the direct centerpoint of the circle. With a firm concentration of will, Harry's circle released a wave of power that dissolved each and every brick into dust while paralyzing the wizard who had been charging Harry in the first place. With another power wave, the wizard helplessly went sliding away and down the floor of the Atrium, with nothing in his way to halt him.

At that moment, the fireplaces lining to walls abruptly came to life as they became aglow with green flames because many other Aurors started to appear and join in on the fight.

As Harry finished off his latest opponent with a well-timed and well-placed Repelling Curse, Harry looked over at Hermione and had to admit he was quite impressed with what he saw. Hermione was taking down Malfoy's men with quick and clean swipes of her wand which sent the thuggish wizards to the ground and unable to move, but only after they flew up into the air in angular arcs. Harry made his way over to Hermione, still shooting spells as he did, until he and Hermione were back-to-back with their wands raised. Each noticing the swarm of Malfoy's men closing in on them, Harry and Hermione made a mentally mutual decision and a curving wave of misty white light snaked out of their wands. These curvy light waves circled around their creators and, at the same time, coursed through the heads of each of Malfoy's thugs and pushed them to the floor like Dominoes. Each of Malfoy's men closed their eyes and slumped to the ground in a heap once the light had passed through them.

Once that was all done, the only pairs left fighting were Kingsley and Lucius, accompanied by Ian and Ann. They were each dueling two wizards whose physical attributes made them closely resemble Crabbe and Goyle. Contrary to Harry and Hermione's brand of dueling with wands, Ian and Ann seemed to have a style all of their own. Instead of simply firing off spells, they used their wands as swords. Indeed, the portions of their wands above the parts they were gripping appeared longer and more corpulent, shiny even. It was a spell Ian and Ann had learned early on; turning their wands into magic-filled swords. And from the looks of it, their opponents had used a special form of Priori Incantatem to allow their wands to do the same.

The four of them looked like modern day pirates by the way they swung their mystical, glowing blades above their heads. Each time the pinkish-purple blades connected with each other, sparks of varying colors rained down around the wand carriers. Ian in particular appeared really adept at this craft, as his blade was nothing more than a blur which would be in front of him one moment, but behind him the next as he performed a move comparable to a graceful pirouette. With another twirl, Ian lunged out with a kick to the chest, but that wasn't what did it. After aiming his blade directly at the wizard, Ian was able to make his sword shoot four small lines, all of them the same pinkish-purple color, and the lines curved as they connected with the thug's wrists and ankles. The force of this sent Malfoy's crony hard into the wall, the magical bracelets now pinning him there.

Ann was faring just as well, if not with more ease. The clanging of the magical blades was just as authentic as the sounds of actual metal swords, and they came so often from this pair, it was hard to tell where Ann and her opponent had to break in between swipes. But just when Ann's dueling mate blocked her blade with an easy horizontal stance with his own, Ann turned her wand back to its original form and blasted a Stunning Curse right into the wizard's face. The wizard hit the floor immediately and Ann joined Harry, Hermione and Ian; they were all surrounding Kingsley and Malfoy.

Kingsley and Malfoy were both furious fighters when it came to wizard dueling, and they were each showing it at the moment. Both had to jump back numerous times, which allowed for many craters to form in the floor and whenever two of their spells would meet in midair, they would each rebound against the walls. Well into the battle, Malfoy seemed to realize that he was now surrounded, and he did something Harry couldn't say he was really surprised by: he smiled broadly. But this smile carried the same darkly amused air his chuckle did earlier.

"Give up, Malfoy," spat Harry as he held his wand in a fashion very similar to the way Muggle policemen hold their guns. "You're surrounded."

"For the moment," Malfoy replied silkily.

Harry was just about to say something else when suddenly, Malfoy placed his cane out in front of him and brought his wand to rest against its midsection, forming a cross shape with the two objects. Before anyone could do anything else, Malfoy raised the cane (wand still in place), and forcefully brought the cane down upon the floor with tremendous force. The after effect was a large surge of clear blue energy coming from the wand and cane, then spreading outward around Malfoy to knock everyone surrounding him on their backs. Everybody, that is, except for Kingsley, who was quickly seized by Malfoy and engulfed in black ropes that wrapped themselves tightly around the Minister's body.

Just as Malfoy Disapparated from the spot with the Minister in tow and reappeared down the Atrium right in front of the lifts that led to the upper level. Harry had already half-hauled himself to his feet when he saw this, so he and Hermione wasted little time in Apparating after Malfoy. Ian and Ann were right behind them.

They caught Malfoy just after the door for the lift he had summoned opened, but he was apparently ready for them. He aimed his wand threateningly over Kingsley's left shoulder as he started to edge toward the inside of the lift. Of course, Kingsley struggled the whole way.

No words needed to be spoken as Harry pressed the button for the other lift located right next to Malfoy's. Luckily, this one arrived straight away; Harry, Hermione, Ian and Ann boarded it without hesitation. And even though the walls of the lift were not see-through, everybody still aimed their wands at the side Malfoy and Kingsley were on the other side of, just in case Malfoy tried to blast through with a spell.

Harry kept one watchful eye on the lift wall while the other was trained on the indicator which showed the levels of the Ministry they were quickly passing by. He took note that they were heading toward the level where employees could enter through a set of large rotating glass doors. But due to the fact that the Ministry had an enchantment over it that made Muggles see it as an out of order and run down building with decaying features, Harry wondered how it would look to passersby if a group of wizards emerged from a decrepit-looking building with their wands expelling great bursts of light. The ding of the lift reaching its destination, accompanied by the cool female voice announcing "Ministry of Magic Main Entrance" brought Harry back to the situation at hand.

Harry and Lucius Malfoy emerged from their lifts at the same time, walking out into the lavish Ministry entrance hall and out in front of the stainless spinning glass doors that allowed entry and escape. Harry and Malfoy were staring each other down in the same fashion as American gunslingers in the Wild West, each of them itching to use their weapon before the other. But Harry would never attack with his wand with the Minister of Magic in the direct line of fire, no matter how clean his shot may be. Malfoy seemed to realize this, because he pulled Kingsley closer to him while still retaining the lethal angle of his wand.

"See?" Malfoy sneered as he began inching his way toward the exit. Harry and the others were already following him. "Your weaknesses are your undoing, Potter. You won't risk taking a shot at me because there's a good chance you might hit the Minister. Even if it may be a minor injury to him."

Malfoy was getting ever closer to the doors and once he was past them, he'd be out in the middle of a street full of innocent Muggles. Harry knew it was now or never. He glanced briefly into Kingsley's eyes and in that split-second, they came to a decision. After Kingsley gave Harry an almost imperceptible nod, Harry fully leveled his wand and shot a burst of blue light that scraped against Kingsley's shoulder, but connected fully with the upper part of Malfoy's chest.

Malfoy released Kingsley and stumbled back as a result. Kingsley sank to the floor, the black ropes that were binding him completely gone by the time he was down. Harry saw a tear in Kingsley's robes just above his shoulder blade along with a thin trail of fresh blood. But Harry didn't dwell on that; he just kept approaching Malfoy, who was now without any leverage.

"Never assume, Malfoy," he said just as smugly as Malfoy himself would have said it.

Malfoy gritted his teeth and raced out of the Ministry and through the glass doors, not even bothering with Apparition. Harry and the others gave chase.

They found Malfoy standing in the middle of the street outside, his appearance eliciting quite a few glances from passing Muggles.

Harry and Hermione saw it before anyone else. Malfoy was aiming his wand at the pavement beneath him and smiling coldly, calculatingly, at Harry. Harry's eyes widened and he grabbed Hermione by the arm as he yelled out to the entire street.

"EVERYBODY GET DOWN!"

Harry then fully wrapped his arms around Hermione in order to shield her, but it wasn't enough. What sent them both sprawling across the pavement was not only Harry's momentum, but the shockwave of the blast as well.

The street exploded in a contained shower of pavement chunks and dust that swept over all who had been thrown down. The street that still remained intact now had contours through it that dug almost as deep as the sewage lines.

Harry's head rang and he could feel cuts under his chin and in the left palm of his hand. He looked to his right and saw Hermione beside him, a fresh but small gash just above her right eyebrow. A line of blood also trailed from the corner of her mouth. Without thinking, Harry slid his hand across the distance that separated it from Hermione's and squeezed.

Above the ringing, Harry heard the popping of what he assumed were more Aurors. He was right, because seconds later there came the sound of simultaneous shouts of "_Stupefy!_" That was followed by a great explosion of red light that was reflected in Harry's askew glasses. Whether Malfoy had lingered long enough to be on the receiving end of those spells was something Harry wasn't immediately sure of, but he would worry about that later.

Right now, all Harry was concerned with was accepting the invitation of the soothing blackness that was washing over him. The last thing Harry heard was Hermione saying his name in a very worried fashion and the last thing he felt was her tightening her grip on his hand.

It felt comforting.


	6. Tragic Surprise

CHAPTER SIX

_**TRAGIC SURPRISE**_

"There, that should do it."

The trained mediwizard who had been bent over Harry straightened himself up once he had completed his tending to Harry's injured palm. The mediwizard had been able to siphon off the dry, crusted blood that had soaked Harry's hand so that all that was left now were two thin vertical cuts, neither of which were in any danger of bleeding again. But just the same, the mediwizard conjured up a small bandage and used it to cover the small abrasions. In addition, another bandage had been put over the cut on Harry's forehead.

Hermione, likewise, also sported a similar bandage in roughly the same spot, but the cut on her lip was now so small it didn't require any sort of cover. She and Harry were back inside the entrance hall to the Ministry, sitting on a bench pushed up against the left wall. Aurors and the like were walking to and fro about the hall, either taking care of the last batch of Memory Charms that needed to be performed on Muggles or working on repairing the damage caused both inside and outside. The Ministry was going to have some time handling the aftermath of this attack.

The mediwizard packed up whatever instruments he had brought along with him and bid Harry and Hermione a better second half of the day. Once he was gone, Harry turned to Hermione.

"Are you sure you're alright?" he asked concernedly.

"For the third time, Harry, I'm fine." Hermione couldn't say she wasn't the least bit flattered by Harry's unabashed concern for her well-being.

At that moment, Marcus approached the pair of them, accompanied by Ian and Ann. He surveyed Harry and Hermione's current state with soft eyes while his hands remained in the pockets of his robes.

"That was one hell of a fight you all put up," he said. "Unfortunately, Malfoy was able to Disapparate before our Stunning Curses could get him."

"I figured," Harry muttered rather gloomily.

"But at least we were able to get all his associates," Ian said in a bracing voice, more for the benefit of Harry than anybody else.

Harry sighed. "But how much do you want to bet that he'll get new reinforcements? Lucius Malfoy's smart; he makes sure anybody he recruits into his ranks is nothing more than expendable."

"Still," Marcus continued, "we'll be able to question all of them to get some answers as to why Malfoy wanted to abduct the Minister in the first place."

Harry and Hermione glanced at each other.

"I might have a theory of my own about that."

Marcus shifted in curiosity. "Care to share that theory?"

Harry stood up so he could look Marcus directly in the eyes. "Before I do, I want to ask you something. Were you ever aware of the _real_ reason Barnes sent John and Daniel into Malfoy Manor?"

The expression Marcus gave Harry was one torn between confusion and curiosity. "You mean other than the fact that we needed to regain an important Seer before her abilities could be exploited?"

Harry could tell that the traces of slight surprise in both Marcus's voice and eyes were genuine. Apparently, Barnes didn't think anyone else in the Department was worthy enough to be trusted with such information.

"Well then, it seems Barnes might be abusing his power as Head of the Department."

But before Harry could say anything else, Barnes himself, accompanied by Kingsley, joined their group as swiftly and quietly as if they were ghosts. Kingsley was regarding Harry with respect, but Barnes wore his ever-present impartial expression. Harry wondered what it would take to cause that face to lighten up a bit.

"Impressive work," said Barnes, "but Lucius Malfoy slipped through our fingers yet again."

It was typical of Barnes to mix a complement with a criticism whenever an incident such as this yielded these very results. Harry had to keep himself from rolling his eyes in exasperation.

"Liam, the circumstances were delicate and Malfoy was simply too fast this time."

"Well, think of it as a sign to prepare for that sort of thing next time."

"Come now, Liam, Harry and his partners did their best," Kingsley interjected. "We'll still be able to interrogate the men they disarmed. And hopefully, they can provide information which we can use to capture Malfoy."

"Hopefully." Barnes spoke the word with just enough bitterness to cause Harry's anger to briefly swell to the heights that had been reserved for Snape during his first six years at Hogwarts, but Harry promptly brought it back down as Barnes strutted away from them.

"Harry, Hermione, both of you did an outstanding job here today along with Ian and Ann."

Hermione got to her feet, looking rather surprised to hear Kingsley associate her name with well-done Auror work. It made Harry grin the slightest of grins when he caught her reaction.

"Thank you, Minister," Hermione replied in a slightly feeble tone. The comment clearly had caught her off-guard.

"Minister," said Marcus as he turned toward Kingsley, "we're going to have to ask you a few follow-up questions, if that's alright."

Kingsley nodded, rubbing his shoulder, which now had a thin bandage draped across it. "Of course. I dare to say my staff will want to make sure I'm perfectly fine before they resume bombarding me with my heavy workload."

Upon hearing Kingsley mention his staff, Harry was tempted to inquire about the real William Donovan and if Kingsley might know where he is, but then he figured it'd probably be best to do that one on one. After all, Harry had no way of knowing if the Ministry itself was enchanted so that Malfoy could listen in on any conversation he liked.

As Ian and Ann guided Kingsley toward the lift that would take them to the Auror level, Marcus stepped in closer toward Harry and Hermione.

"I know I don't have any authority over Hermione, but Harry, I think it would be best if you went home for the rest of the day. Get some rest, get your head back in the right place, you know."

"But I might have one or two questions--…"

"That's an order, Harry. Go home. If you have any questions, we can call the Minister back in tomorrow so you'll have the chance to talk with him."

Harry was about to argue that what he needed to ask was extremely vital, but Marcus walked away before Harry could open his mouth. This left Harry and Hermione standing in the midst of Aurors and various other Ministry officials; the two of them were the only ones who stood irresolute, and they stood out as much as a stain on a clean white sheet.

Harry felt like he should say something, but words completely evaded him. It was the impulse to talk about how slightly frustrated Harry felt, being denied to do his job at a time when he thought his job was the only thing that would keep him thinking clearly. Twice, he opened his mouth to say something, but Harry found voicing his thoughts right now was just as hard as filling a bucket with air. But it was Hermione who finally spoke.

"They can't keep us from staying here."

She said it rather plainly, but there was still a tinge of firmness in her voice. It was one of the rare occasions Harry had ever heard Hermione defy a direct order, and it was yet another instance today when Hermione had taken Harry by impressed surprise. If this were Hogwarts and they were around fifteen years of age, Hermione would have unquestioningly led the way back to the Gryffindor Common Room, not daring to go against an order from a superior. It was just another indicator of how much Hermione had left behind her bookworm persona.

Harry was just about to suggest they find a way to surreptitiously stay around when he felt something small land on his shoulder, accompanied by a flutter of minute wings. Instinctively, Harry held out a hand, and Pigwidgeon flew down onto it, a letter folded up as much as possible tied to his equally tiny leg.

Harry hurriedly unfolded the letter and read the message scrawled upon it: "_Get here now._"

Even more instinctively, Harry, Pigwidgeon still in hand, looped his arm through Hermione's and the two of them Apparated from the Ministry.

They appeared right outside The Burrow, which stood peacefully underneath the sun-filled sky of midafternoon. There was nothing instantly noticeable about the grounds that suggested there was danger lurking about, but Harry trusted Ron enough to take his word. Making sure to keep their attention directed toward the open country land surrounding The Burrow, Harry and Hermione whipped out their wands and darted across the grassy field to the Weasley household.

Harry took note of the already open front door, which caused a stark feeling of dread to overwhelm him. In the days of Voldemort, the way to tell if the inhabitants of a house were dead inside was to look up toward the sky and check for an emerald green skull with a snake slithering out of its mouth; The Dark Mark. But The Dark Mark hadn't been seen in two years, and Harry dearly wished it wouldn't turn up again anytime soon.

Harry and Hermione entered The Burrow, making as little noise as they could. No signs of any type of struggle were evident in the main hallway, nor in the living room. In fact, everything seemed perfectly normal upon first glance, however that did nothing to quell the mounting sense of unease Harry was experiencing. Harry muttered "_Revealio_", and a bluish white light shone from the tip of his wand in a cone shape and Harry used it to scan the inside surface of the house. He was searching for any hidden indicators of a fight; sometimes, they weren't even discernible to the naked eye.

Most of the lower level was clean, and Harry and Hermione finally reached the last room on the bottom they hadn't searched: the kitchen.

Two seconds after he set foot inside the kitchen, Harry had his fears confirmed in a sensation comparable to being soaked in ice-cold water. If the image before him would forever be burned into Harry's mind, he wouldn't be surprised. As if in a trance, Harry walked toward the bodies, which were lying feet-to-feet and looked just as peaceful.

The only consolation available to Harry was the fact that Ginny and Ron hadn't experienced any pain when they died.

Harry sank to his knees, his face a mask of utter disbelief. Out of impulse, he reached out with two shaking fingers and pressed them against Ginny's throat, checking for the pulse he knew wouldn't be there. Ginny's skin felt cold at Harry's touch, as he knew it would.

Harry didn't even bother checking Ron's pulse, almost as if he refused to accept that he was dead too. He sensed, rather than saw, Hermione come into the kitchen behind him and let out a shocked and stifled gasp.

Hermione clutched at the wall beside her for support as she herself sank to the floor in anguish, tears already falling from her eyes. Now on her knees, Hermione began to sob uncontrollably into her hands, the sound muffled.

Harry's insides felt like they were being wrenched and twisted like a soaked sponge, then torn apart piece by piece. Images were flashing through his mind; those of his best memories with Ron and Ginny, moments of friendship and compassion that defined who they were. About Ron, Harry remembered everything that made him such a great friend: his caring for friends, innocent nature and relaxed attitude. The memories of Ginny that flashed in front of Harry's mind's eye showcased her beauty in varying degrees, memories of her that reminded Harry why he had fallen in love with her in the first place. It was fitting that these were the memories Harry would remember Ginny by, and it was with a pang of sadness that Harry was reminded that he would never be able to make lasting memories of Ginny ever again. And before he knew it, Harry was crying, crying with all his might, as if shedding enough tears would somehow make everything go back to normal. But it wouldn't make any such difference.

_They're gone._ The phrase kept repeating itself over and over in Harry's head like a broken record. It was a simple fact Harry refused to believe, but one he was forced to accept.

Through his tears, Harry noticed something protruding from the pocket of Ginny's jeans. It was small and shiny, and it caught Harry's attention enough to make him reach out and extract whatever it was. It turned out to be a thin glass vial, the contents of which were white and glowed serenely, even in the daylight. It was a memory.

But Harry didn't have time to consider what it was a memory of, because his train of thought was interrupted by Hermione hugging him from behind and resting her head against his shoulder as she continued to sob. Harry pocketed the memory vial, his face still shining with tears, and tenderly grasped Hermione's arm. He then started to rock them both back and forth, drowning in the sorrow that swept over them like a tidal wave.

Harry lost track of time as he and Hermione sat there in each other's arms, unable to do anything except cry. But when Harry _did_ next take stock of The Burrow, he noticed that the sunshine filtering in through the kitchen window had turned a deeper shade of orange, signifying that it was close to sunset. Hermione seemed to have calmed down a bit, as her sobs were now quieter and she spent more time whimpering than actually crying. Nonetheless, the sound of her anguish was enough to wrench Harry's heart just as much as discovering two close friends dead in their own home.

Harry inclined his head backward so that it rested against Hermione's.

All of a sudden, a different sound reached Harry's ears; one of scuffling footsteps. It caused him to lift his head back up and gaze in the direction the noise had originated from. This sudden attentiveness from Harry made Hermione raise her head as well as she wiped away some tears.

"What is it?"

Harry chose not to answer. Instead, he disentangled himself from Hermione's arms and stood up. He picked up his wand from beside Ginny's lifeless form and began to go investigate, but Hermione grabbed his hand firmly.

"I'm coming with you." Her voice was a hollow whisper, but still easily discernible.

Harry nodded, understanding her desire to keep herself in his company, and led the way out of the kitchen and into the living room.

If Harry ever doubted that the scuffling noise had merely been a trick of his mind, those doubts were immediately quashed upon seeing the cloaked figure with dark hair who was attempting to escape The Burrow. Harry wasted no time. He shouted "_Bindus!_" and five red, arched objects shot out from Harry's wand. Each one of them knocked the man up against the wall and held him there; the red rings wrapped themselves around the wizard's ankles, wrists and neck. The rings were sparkling and emitting sounds like that of static electricity.

Harry was staring at him with a look of deepest loathing and he closed the distance between them, his wand never wavering. Once he was close enough, Harry allowed the tip of his wand to dig into the cheek of the wizard's handsome and evil face.

"Give me one good reason why I shouldn't kill you now!"

To Harry's surprise and disgust, the wizard had the gall to smile.

"There isn't one," he said smugly. "Do it, and find out just how much good it'll do you."

"I know you work for Lucius Malfoy," Harry spat out in anger. "So if you think he'll come to your rescue, you seriously need to reconsider your options."

The comment apparently made some sense to the wizard, as his face took on a look of dark comprehension.

"Or perhaps it _would_ be better if I kill you," said Harry, the emotion and anger rising in both his voice and his chest. Harry half-expected Hermione to try to reason with him in a soothing voice, but the sound of her reassurance never came. Maybe she too was consumed by so much blind anger, she wanted revenge as well. But thinking about logical reason made Harry lower his wand. "However, it wouldn't solve anything and _they_ wouldn't have wanted me to."

Harry stood back and drew his wand through the air, which made a Navy blue barrier close around the wizard, much like the lid of a container. Now beside an armchair, Harry turned and started violently bashing the high-backed top with his fists. Once the majority of his anger had been released, Harry gripped the chair tightly and squeezed, partly hoping he'd be able to rip the piece of furniture in two.

What made him stop was the gentle touch of Hermione's hand on his shoulder and when Harry looked up into her eyes, the rest of his fury evaporated into nothingness. That was when he broke down into tears once again, this time with the sobs being more forceful. Before he knew it, Harry had collapsed into Hermione's arms. This time, Hermione was the one doing the comforting.

The moment the tears stopped coming, Harry got up and silently walked outside, with Hermione never leaving him. Harry pointed his wand straight up in the air and sent off red sparks that exploded in a predetermined pattern. Seconds later, Aurors Apparated on the scene and approached Harry. Among them were Ian and Ann, and it was Ann who reached Harry first.

"What happened, Harry? Is everything alright?" But her tone betrayed the words, as Harry's depressed state gave away the seriousness of the situation.

"You'll find two dead bodies inside. One of them is Ginny, and the other…is Ron."

As Ian walked up beside her, Ann put her hand to her mouth. Apparently, Ian had heard what Harry just said, because the question he asked next was, "Do Arthur and Molly know?"

"No, not yet." Harry bit his lip. "And neither do any other of their family. But someone needs to alert them, tell them to get here as soon as they can."

Ian nodded before he motioned for a small group of Aurors to go inside and begin the crime scene investigation.

"We caught someone, most likely the killer, and he's secured under a draining shield. He shouldn't put up much resistance."

Ann removed her hand from in front of her mouth and looked at Harry with the deepest sympathy. "Listen, Harry, if the two of you want to get out of here while we take care of this, we'll more than understand."

"No," Harry said firmly. "We'll stay until the rest of the Weasleys show up. They deserve to hear what happened from us, wouldn't you say?"

Ian and Ann silently agreed and they left Harry and Hermione by themselves. Harry and Hermione once again found themselves alone, standing amidst a swarm of activity that was coming in and out of The Burrow.

It wasn't until after the sun had fully set and the sky was blanketed in an early night blue when the Weasleys arrived all at once. Mr. and Mrs. Weasley, Bill, Charlie, Percy and George all wore expressions that made a lump reform in the middle of Harry's throat and his lower lip quiver. He and Hermione walked slowly over to the family, both of them dreading the reaction they would be faced with.

"Harry, dear?"

Mrs. Weasley's worried voice was like a jab to the throat.

"Please…don't say…."

The words came tumbling out of Harry at a pace so fast, it didn't take more than a minute to explain.

As Harry talked, Mrs. Weasley collapsed against Mr. Weasley, and it took the combined efforts of both him and George to lower her safely to the grass. When Mrs. Weasley started to howl in anguish, Hermione made a move to go and comfort her, but was halted by Harry grabbing her shoulder. One silent look from Harry told Hermione that the Weasleys needed only each other to lean on at the moment. When they wanted Harry and Hermione to offer comfort, Harry knew the Weasleys would ask them for it.

Bill and Charlie, meanwhile, were pacing aimlessly around. Neither of them had tears in their eyes, but both of their faces were contorted in deeply saddened and pained expressions.

Harry gently took Hermione's hand and guided them a considerable distance away.

"We should go somewhere," Harry said in a low whisper to Hermione. "Away from here. Give them the space they deserve."

Hermione nodded, her eyes still on the Weasleys. "Back to the apartment?" She didn't dare say Ron's name, nor did she want to.

"I'm not sure," Harry replied. "If we've labeled ourselves as targets, we need to go somewhere Malfoy's men wouldn't think to look."

"Grimmauld Place?" Hermione suggested.

"That may not be wise. Think about it, we've made it extremely difficult for people like Malfoy to get into the Ministry. So if he found a way in, that means he must've had some inside help. That same person must've known about…(Harry gestured toward The Burrow). So that means if there _is_ a leak within the Ministry, most likely it's someone very close to me."

Hermione's face darkened. "Ian or Ann couldn't have possibly…?"

"I honestly don't know. But until I do, we need to find somewhere Malfoy and his men wouldn't think of at first, away from our usual hiding places. That would buy us enough time to get reorganized."

"Reorganized?" Hermione was staring at Harry as if he had just said something completely insane. "Harry --…"

"This happened because I was getting too close to discovering what Malfoy's up to. I think it only fitting if we finish this."

Hermione searched Harry's eyes for a long time before finally giving her response. "Don't you think for one second, Harry, that I'm going to let you do this on your own. I'm going to be with you every step of the way on this, because I owe it to them too."

Harry considered Hermione's words, then nodded. "Okay. We're together on this, now." He and Hermione embraced warmly. When they broke apart, Harry posed the same question. "So where do we go?"

"My parents' house." Hermione said it almost instantaneously, which made Harry give her a hesitant stare. Hermione saw this and explained more. "Well, it really is one of the last places Malfoy would think to look, because you've never been there."

"But _you_ have," said Harry. "You've lived there most of your life. If Malfoy thinks to look there eventually, your parents will be put in danger."

"Then we take steps to ensure we remain safe there for however long we need to stay. Put up Repelling Charms, an Invisibility Spell, whatever it takes. I'm not saying that should be our permanent hideout, just our first. Besides, it'll give me one last chance to see them before we go on this…(Hermione fished around for a word)…hunt. Who knows how long it'll take?"

Harry looked away from Hermione for a moment and up into the night sky, where a crescent moon had just peeked out from behind a bank of clouds. Upon thinking about it, Harry knew Hermione had a point, as she always did. If she wanted to spend some time with her family before the two of them embarked on yet another perilous quest, who was he to deny her that? He looked back into Hermione's eyes and, despite himself, he managed to give a small, but warm smile.

"Well, I think it's time I got to know your parents better anyway."

In return, Hermione gave Harry a grateful expression, which seemed to make Harry's heart swell just a bit. Harry didn't know if he should have been concerned that it had made him feel just a bit better or not.

As one, both he and Hermione turned to look at the Weasleys once more. They were still huddled together, heads bowed against one another and arms around their shoulders in a consoling way. Harry had to admit that he did feel the urge to go over and offer his own comfort, but like he told Hermione, the Weasleys needed to have time to themselves before they spent time with anyone else.

"Should we…?" Hermione's voice trailed off, as she answered her own question. She had been about to ask if they should tell the Weasleys they were leaving, but realized that they probably wouldn't even process the fact even if they heard it, given their level of grief. "What about Ian and Ann?"

"They're too busy handling the crime scene. And besides, they told us we should get out of here anyway." Harry lowered his voice, even though he was sure nobody else was listening. "Plus, until we can determine if there's a leak in the Ministry, we shouldn't tell anyone else what we're doing."

"But surely Ian or Ann wouldn't betray you?" Hermione asked, trying to sound logical. "After all, they've worked with you ever since they joined the Department."

"Okay, look, I'm not going to say we don't need all the help we can get, but until I can be absolutely sure of their loyalties, we don't mention anything." Harry paused for a moment. "We should just go. Nobody will really question why we've left, anyway."

"We should go by my apartment first," suggested Hermione. "Pick up any necessities we might need."

"Good idea."

And with that, Harry and Hermione evaporated into thin air, leaving behind the tragic scene at The Burrow and reappearing inside Ron and Hermione's apartment.

It took Hermione less than ten minutes to gather up anything she would need for her and Harry's sojourn into adventure: clothes, toothbrush, and any other means of keeping her appearance presentable. Harry noticed that she made a point of avoiding any mementos of Ron if she could.

Once Hermione was finished, she and Harry then Apparated to Harry's apartment, where he went about the same process in a slightly quicker fashion. Just like Hermione, Harry did his best not to dwell on anything relating to Ginny and was able to collect the items he needed with little emotional trouble.

Harry returned to Hermione, who was waiting for him n the living room of the apartment, the only light coming from those of the city outside and the slivers of moonlight that managed to peek through the clouds and skyscrapers.

"Where are we going, exactly?" Harry asked.

"The suburbs," Hermione answered. "Devonshire Square, to be precise."

Harry nodded, and both he and Hermione closed their eyes in concentration, each of them focusing clearly on the location Hermione had just said. When they opened their eyes again, Harry and Hermione found themselves standing in the middle of a street lined with parked cars underneath an array of street lamps that glowed warmly in the darkness. Harry took a moment to survey his new surroundings before looking at Hermione. He noticed the expression on her face was one of relaxation; she was home.

Hermione pointed to the house directly in front of them. "That's it."

Harry followed her finger, and his eyes fell upon a two-story white house with red window covers, what looked to be a blue-tiled roof and a short brick stairway which led to a small porch in front of the main door. The glowing lights coming from the windows gave Hermione's parents' house an inviting aura that somewhat quelled Harry's sense of worry.

"We should go ahead and get inside," said Hermione as she gently took Harry's hand in hers and guided him toward the front door.

Once Harry and Hermione had climbed the steps and came to stand directly in front of the door, Hermione nervously cleared her throat and reached out a hand. She hesitated momentarily before knocking three times.


	7. Late Night Confessions

CHAPTER SEVEN

_**LATE NIGHT CONFESSIONS**_

"Coming." The male voice that spoke from behind the closed door was slightly muffled.

From behind the front door came the sound of approaching footsteps. A few seconds later, the door was pulled open from inside, and Harry and Hermione were met with the sight of Adam Granger, Hermione's father. Harry had met the Grangers before, not long after Hermione restored their memories and returned them from halfway across the world. She had done that in order to protect her parents from the clutches of Voldemort, despite the emotional pain that had settled itself in her heart as a result.

The Grangers were very nice people, the kind who would take a bullet for you. Their love and admiration for their daughter was immediately evident if you spent enough time with them, and Harry already had. Adam Granger was in his mid to late 40's, with hair that was slowly starting to gray along the bottom, a strong build and a kind face that perfectly captured his overall demeanor. Hermione's mom, Kate, joined her husband at the door soon after, curious as to who just showed up. Just like her husband, Kate's eyes showed mild surprise upon seeing Harry and Hermione.

"Hermione, Harry," said Adam in a voice carrying curiosity and surprise. "What are you two doing here?" He poked his head outside, looking around. "Are Ron and Ginny here as well?"

"Dad," Hermione's voice shook slightly, "something's happened. Harry and I need to stay here for a while. A few days at the most."

Neither of Hermione's parents said anything, they just stood aside and let Harry and Hermione step gratefully inside. The inside of the Granger household was what was to be expected from the looks of the outside. The main hallway contained a staircase leading up to the second level (the closest thing once you set foot inside), a square archway that led into a dining room on the left, and the walls of the initial hallway was lined with family pictures, leading the way to the living room. Harry and Hermione led the way there once Hermione's parents had closed the door behind them.

Once in the living room, Adam scooped up the remote control for the television off of the arm of the Navy blue couch and turned off the device. Harry and Hermione settled themselves down, rather close to each other, on the couch while Hermione's parents sat down in two chairs; one cushioned rocking chair positioned right beside the couch and a plush armchair sitting at an angle across from the couch. A window overlooking the backyard was behind the armchair, but the blinds were currently drawn over it.

Kate, her brown hair as bushy as Hermione's had been, looked from Harry to Hermione, her eyes searching for an answer. She could tell something was troubling her daughter. "Hermione, darling, what is it?"

Hermione was the one who took the lead recounting the events of the day, with Harry jumping in at the midway point. Just before Harry and Hermione had finished, Kate moved over to the couch and sat beside Hermione, putting her arm around her consolingly. Soon after, Hermione rested her head against her mother's shoulder and Harry scooted away just a bit so as to give them a bit of space. Harry was acquainted with Mr. and Mrs. Granger, but not well enough that he thought he should be included in a moment such as this. So he patiently waited for Hermione to compose herself again.

When she did, she cleared her throat. "So Harry and I need to stay here until we can figure out what our next step will be. Both of our apartments are too risky, and The Burrow is definitely out of the question."

"Of course it's alright, dear," said Adam. "You and Harry can stay as long as you need to."

"Thank you," said Harry. "Both of you. Now, in order to make sure the two of you remain safe, we're going to put up whatever charms we can around your house. That is, if it's okay with you."

"Whatever you feel is necessary." Adam nodded his head graciously.

"Now, should we try not to use any of the electrical appliances for the next few days?" asked Kate. "Hermione, I remember you saying how magic and electricity don't mix."

"But that's only in areas with a strong magical aura," replied Hermione. "Since this is a Muggle-populated area, everything in the house should be fine."

Harry nodded in agreement. That was why electrical appliances Harry and Ginny had in their apartment were able to function properly; because they had picked an apartment in a building occupied by Muggles. Even though Ron and Hermione's apartment was relatively close to Harry's, the magical waves given off by each weren't enough to qualify as a "magical hot spot".

"Right," said Harry after a relatively uncertain silence, motioning for Hermione to do the same, "we should get started on those charms." He and Hermione both pulled out their wands. "It shouldn't take that long."

After Mr. and Mrs. Granger nodded in understanding, Harry and Hermione exited the house. Outside, they extinguished every streetlamp with a flick of their wands so that no prying eyes would see what they were about to do. For the next fifteen minutes, Harry and Hermione put up many protective charms, mainly Repelling ones that would cause anyone coming near the house to remember urgent matters of theirs and go away. They figured an Invisibility Charm would make the neighbors suspicious, because suddenly not being able to see a house you've lived in close proximity to for a long time would certainly raise some eyebrows. When they were done, Harry and Hermione restored the streetlamps.

It was then when exhaustion overtook them, clearly a result of the day's strenuous events. Harry lifted his glasses temporarily to his forehead so he could rub his eyes.

"I feel like I've been up for three days straight." He let his glasses fall back into place.

"It's been too long a day," agreed Hermione. She too had the early signs of weariness etched across her face.

Harry gazed up at the house. The pair of them was close enough to it so the Repelling Charms didn't affect them. "I assume this house has a guest bedroom?"

"It does," said Hermione as they made their way back inside the house, "but I was thinking we could share my room." Hermione closed the front door and locked it. "Look, I'd feel better if I weren't alone tonight. And I'm sure you feel the same way, Harry."

Harry nodded, his face expressionless. "We could both use the company. I'll, uh, conjure up myself a bed."

After bidding goodnight to Mr. and Mrs. Granger, Harry and Hermione made their way upstairs to Hermione's room. They each took turns changing into their pajamas behind the closed door and once they did, Harry used his wand to make a comfortable-looking bed appear out of thin air. He positioned it against the wall opposite Hermione's, but it wasn't big enough to make the room seem cramped. Harry and Hermione each climbed into their beds, Hermione turned off her bedside lamp, and after they wished each other a good night, Harry and Hermione slowly fell asleep.

When Harry's mind finally did slip into a state of unconscious bliss, a barrage of troubled images invaded his dreams. First, Harry found himself lying peacefully in the grass of the field surrounding The Burrow with Ginny on a sunny day. The two of them were gazing deep into each other's eyes and smiling widely. They leaned in for a kiss, but as they did so, the sky was abruptly covered by a mass of dark gray clouds and before Harry knew it, Ginny went limp after a flash of green light flashed like a burst of lightning. Then the ground started to tremble violently. A large crack in the ground formed between Harry and Ginny and when Harry moved to try and grab Ginny's lifeless hand, he noticed that she had become Ron. Ron's body fell out of sight, tumbling down another hole in the earth.

Harry attempted to jump over to the separated piece of grassy foundation, but soon found himself falling…falling down into the dark abyss of the first hole. A dim light was coming into view. It was gradually becoming brighter, larger, filling Harry's vision completely. When Harry's feet touched ground again, he discovered that he was standing in the middle of a chamber lit by countless torches sitting in brackets along the walls. Every bit of the room was aglow with the orange light of the flames except for the wall directly facing Harry. Mysteriously, that part was kept shrouded in shadows, virtually impenetrable to the human eye.

Harry took a cautious step forward, the sound of his shoes connecting with the blank stone floor reverberating off the walls in the deadly silence. With each step, Harry's breathing became more and more uneasy; the sense of dread inside him was growing with each passing second. Finally, Harry stood mere inches away from the hidden wall and once his right foot had come to a rest beside his left, Harry was met with a stomach-churning sight.

As if being bathed with the sweeping brightness of a spotlight, the wall before Harry became more easily discernible. But the image it presented made his heart stop. Being held, suspended by black chains that wrapped around her wrists and ankles, with her head hanging limply, was Hermione.

Harry reached a shaking hand out to touch her face. Her skin felt cold, even at the slightest touch. When their faces were level with each other, Harry noticed that Hermione's eyes were closed and her face was set in an eerily relaxed state. Those few seconds were all Harry had to take note of her condition, because not long after that, a sound like surging electricity filled the air and Hermione abruptly opened her eyes, screaming in agony as she did so. Harry immediately jerked his hand away.

"HERMIONE!" he shouted. "No, stop! STOP IT! Hermione!"

Harry twisted around, intent on discovering who was behind the Cruciatus Curse, but he didn't get the chance to see the figure. Instead, Harry's vision was filled with a bright red light and he started to be shaken violently.

But the shaking wasn't part of the dream. It was real. In fact, it was the shaking that woke Harry up. Someone was calling out his name as well, and they were pretty close to him from the sound of it.

"Harry! Harry! Wake up!"

Harry opened his eyes, but the person standing over him was blurred. He reached over for his glasses and put them on. When Harry looked back at the person, he saw that it was Hermione. And she was sitting on the side of his bed next to him, rather than standing. Her face bore an extremely worried expression, and it wasn't until then that Harry noticed his left hand was clutching a handful of the bed covers in a death grip. He loosened the hold.

"Hermione!" he said breathlessly. "You're alright!" To add on to his list of discoveries about his current state, Harry noticed his forehead was drenched in sweat.

"Of course I'm alright." Hermione's voice sounded shrill and strained at the same time. She placed a tentative hand on Harry's forehead. Harry closed his eyes at the touch. "You were twisting and turning," Hermione continued. "What were you dreaming about?"

At this point in their relationship, Hermione could see the signs of Harry's troubled dreaming.

Before replying, Harry took Hermione's hand from his forehead and squeezed it gently. "It's…not important."

"Yes it is," Hermione insisted, but she didn't remove her hand from Harry's grasp. "You were screaming out my name, so tell me."

Harry looked deep into Hermione's eyes, internally debating whether he should really tell her or not. But he decided that if the two of them were going to be working together on this Book quest, the most important issue was to not keep any secrets.

Harry cast around for the right words before he spoke. "It started with Ginny and Ron, dying right in front of me." As he took another breath, Harry saw Hermione's eyes begin to glisten with sympathy. "Then the dream changed. All of a sudden, I was seeing you. Being tortured." Harry bowed his head.

"It was just a dream, Harry." From the tone of her voice, it sounded as if Hermione was not only trying to convince Harry of the fact, but herself as well.

"I know," said Harry as he raised his head. "But given my history with dreams such as these, it worries me."

"Hey," Hermione whispered softly, "don't think like that." She inched closer to Harry and placed her hand on his left cheek.

"I can't help it. Especially after today. Ron and Ginny are gone, and I don't want to lose you, too."

"You never will, Harry."

Hermione put her forehead against Harry's. They each closed their eyes. When they pulled away, Hermione brushed a stray tear from her face.

"It's not fair," she said. "I always thought that with Voldemort dead, we'd be free of this sort of trouble. Free of the heartache that comes with it."

"None of us are free. Ever. But that doesn't mean that we can't do everything in our power to change that." Harry waited for some sort of reply, but none came. However, he did notice that Hermione appeared worried behind her welling eyes. "Is something else bothering you?"

By now, Hermione was biting her thumbnail in what seemed to be anxiety. She lowered her hand. "Ever since we left The Burrow, there's been this feeling inside me that…that I can't really figure out. And it makes me scared."

"Scared?"

"Yes. I should be feeling terrible about losing Ron, but for some reason, I'm finding it hard to." Hermione got up and began to pace back and forth. Harry reached over and switched on his bedside lamp in order to give her some light. "It's not that I'm not feeling any remorse at all," she added quickly, "because I am. Ron's been our best friend for so many years, and to suddenly not have him in our lives is devastating."

"You're still not explaining why you said you feel scared," said Harry.

Hermione turned to him. "Whenever someone loses a lover, they're bound to feel so much grief, they start to doubt whether or not they're able to go on with their lives. But I'm not having those doubts."

"Maybe it's just your way of dealing with it," suggested Harry. "Everybody reacts differently to certain things."

"I don't think that's what this is," said Hermione, her voice trembling.

"Then what is it?"

Hermione sat back down on Harry's bed, and Harry couldn't help noticing how beautiful she looked, even at this late an hour. He wouldn't have felt so guilty at himself for thinking this if he'd known Hermione had been thinking the exact same thing about his handsomeness.

"You didn't know this, but for a while, Ron and I seemed to be…different around each other."

Harry straightened up a bit. "What do you mean?"

"For about a year now, I've had this distinct feeling that I've been steadily falling _out_ of love with Ron. And it's something I can't explain." Hermione looked back at Harry, and the moonlight filtering in from outside the window bounced off her face. "Does that mean…?"

"It does _not_ mean that you don't care, Hermione," Harry said firmly. But at that very moment, the same kind of thoughts were chasing themselves around in Harry's head where Ginny was concerned. After all, it was Ginny who had planted doubts in his head. But it wasn't only because Ginny had started doubting Harry's career choice. It had more to do with an awkward feeling in the pit of Harry's stomach that presented itself most of the time when Harry and Ginny had been alone in the last year. To Harry, it was a feeling that seemed to question his love for Ginny and caused him to wonder if it was her who Harry was really meant to be with.

Hermione nodded her head. "But I'm still trying to figure out what it _does _mean. It seemed like most of the time, Ron and I were forcing ourselves to show affection for each other. Like it was a mutual understanding between us that said we no longer loved one another, but we would keep up the illusion for the benefit of everyone else. Then maybe, just maybe, we would come back to where we once were."

"And did it work?"

"No," said Hermione rather miserably. "Because I couldn't shake the feeling that Ron wasn't even trying to repair our relationship. He seemed to just give up. And I remember thinking to myself, if he isn't making an effort, then why should I?" Hermione bit her lip and occupied herself by staring glumly down at her hands. "At the engagement party, that was the first time in a while that I had seen Ron in such a loving mood and it gave me hope. But that was quickly dashed when we returned home that night and he reverted back to his usual self." As she said this, Hermione idly fingered the necklace Ron had given her during the party, which was still draped around her neck. "I was considering leaving him, Harry. I just never thought it'd be like this."

Harry did the only thing he could think of, which was to take Hermione into his arms and rub her back soothingly.

"It wasn't just you, Hermione," admitted Harry. "Ginny and I were experiencing the same problems."

Hermione lifted her head from Harry's shoulder. "But…the two of you didn't seem…"

"I guess we were as good at hiding it as you and Ron were. We tried to act normal as well, but we both eventually came to the conclusion that we were fighting a losing battle. Well, I didn't realize it until after Ginny broke up with me."

"So it seems we both made the wrong choices," Hermione said with a macabre smile as she grabbed Harry's hand again.

"What happened, Hermione? How could we fall out of love with the people who mattered the most to us for so long?"

"That's a question even I can't answer right now, Harry. And I don't know if I _will_ be able to."

A silence followed those words, one filled with confusion and unease. It was Harry who finally broke it.

"I can't even begin to tell you how much it means to me that you're with me right now, Hermione."

"I told you before that you never have to say things like that, Harry. I'll always be with you, no matter what."

"Well, at least let me say this." Harry took a steadying breath. "You've always supported me, Hermione. Always stuck by me, even if I was being unreasonable or just a plain old jerk. You've been the best friend I could ever hope for, and I just want to say how much your friendship means to me."

Hermione nodded, but said nothing. She looked to be debating whether or not she should say something. Finally, she spoke again. "Harry, I feel like I have to tell you something. You don't have to say anything in response if you don't want to, but it's something I want to get off my chest."

"Okay."

"Well, during our first few years at Hogwarts, I was in love with you."

The statement caught Harry off guard, so he didn't know what to say. So he chose to remain quiet and let Hermione continue.

"I don't know how to explain it properly, but I just was. I'd always hoped that you would somehow recognize it, but it was during our third year when I gave up that hope. With everything concerning Sirius happening that year, I wanted desperately to offer you comfort, but with the whole disagreement I had with Ron over Scabbers and the Firebolt incident, it was clear to me you were more concerned about your friendship with Ron than with me." Right then, a guilty expression crossed Harry's face. "By fourth year, I had convinced myself I had feelings for Ron. I don't know why, but it just happened. But by the time all of us were looking for the Horcruxes, somehow my feelings for you returned, despite what was happening between me and Ron. And they especially presented themselves after I had gotten over Ron abandoning us."

"And," Harry said in a voice barely above a whisper, "what about now?"

"What?"

"It's a simple question, Hermione. Are you experiencing those feelings about me now, right here in this room?"

Harry and Hermione stared deep into each other's eyes, and their gaze never wavered. Finally, Hermione gave her answer.

"Yes. And I'm ashamed to say it, given our current situation."

Harry shook his head. "Don't be."

Hermione looked at Harry quizzically. "Why?"

"Because I feel the same way."

"You…you do?" Hermione asked breathlessly. "But…how?"

"C'mon, Hermione. You can't say you haven't noticed those weird moments between us as of late. Before now, I wasn't sure what it was. But after hearing you say all those things, I finally figured out what it all meant."

"Are you sure you're not just saying that?"

"Look, it was _you_ who stood by me during the Horcrux search, it was _you_ who went with me to Godric's Hollow and comforted me while I cried over my parents' graves. No matter the circumstances, you never abandoned me whenever I needed someone. Especially in fourth year when my name came out of the Goblet of Fire. You believed me without hesitation."

By the light of the bedside lamp, Harry saw Hermione blush faintly. "That was just logic."

"But you still knew in your heart what the truth was. Not even Ron believed me. And I was so preoccupied with everything else, I never truly showed my appreciation." Harry leaned forward, closer to Hermione. "It took all these years, countless near-death experiences and a war for me to finally say this, but here it is and it's the truth. I love you, Hermione."

Hermione bit her lip, her eyes wide and welling once more. "Are you--…"

"I'm not just saying that because of our high emotions; it's the truth. I love you." Harry paused. "Do you love me back?"

"Of course I do," Hermione said quickly.

Harry and Hermione slowly leaned their heads together, allowing their foreheads to touch first and closing their eyes. There was only a moment's hesitation, but it wasn't out of them being unsure; it was a pause of longing, of them reveling in the fact that it was finally happening. When Harry and Hermione's lips met for the first time, it entailed an emotion so wonderful and so powerful, it made them question why this hadn't happened sooner. As the kiss deepened, Harry lay back down, Hermione on top of him.

But before it could go any further, Harry broke off the kiss. "Do you think it's a good idea for us to…?" He let the sentence trail off, the rest of it implied in the questioning tone of his voice.

Hermione considered the question, still on top of Harry. "You're right. We should probably wait. It may seem inappropriate at this time." She rolled over off of Harry and onto the mattress of his bed. At the same time, Harry reached over and turned off his bedside lamp.

He and Hermione lay there, entangled in each other's arms tightly. Every once in a while, they would kiss and smile warmly at each other. Suddenly, Hermione perked up a bit.

"How are we going to tell my parents about this?"

"I don't know yet. But we'll figure it out. We'll explain it just how we explained it to each other."

Hermione smiled and settled herself back down. For the rest of the night, Harry and Hermione slept soundly in each other's arms, both of them feeling happier than they would have thought possible a few hours ago.


	8. Meeting The Contact

CHAPTER EIGHT

_**MEETING THE CONTACT**_

Despite not falling fully asleep until the late hours of the night, Harry and Hermione still woke up a little past 6:30 in the morning. They spent perhaps half an hour lying in bed, trying their best to get more sleep, but by the time the sun started to rise above the roofs of the other houses, they gave up. They gave each other privacy as they both changed into Muggle attire for the day and then they quietly exited Hermione's room, closing the door softly behind them.

They didn't want to wake Hermione's parents, so with just as much stealth as they had used moments before, Harry and Hermione made their way downstairs with little next to no sound. Even though all the lights were off, the house was still lit by the rays of the early morning sun; pieces of orange light littered the smooth, polished wood floor. Through the main hallway and living room, Harry and Hermione finally arrived in the mostly white kitchen. The least Harry and Hermione could do to show their gratitude for the hospitality was prepare a nice breakfast for Hermione's parents.

Granted, Harry had very little, if not any, experience in the kitchen but he knew Hermione had plenty. So he let her take the lead after they had gathered everything they needed and went about mixing them together. Even though they were definitely of age and could use magic whenever they wanted to now, Harry and Hermione decided to refrain from enlisting the aid of their wands, so as not to startle Hermione's parents just in case they came down at any moment. Within half an hour, the light from the sun had become brighter and breakfast had pretty much been completed. Just a little past 8, Hermione's parents (fully dressed as well), came into the kitchen an surveyed the sight of the dining table, which was filled with plates of pancakes, bacon, eggs and a jug of orange juice.

"Good morning," Adam greeted as he and Kate took two of the vacant seats at the table. "I see you two have been up for some time."

"Couldn't get back to sleep," said Hermione. "So we figured we'd do something nice."

"To show how grateful we are to you both for letting us stay here," finished Harry. He and Hermione took the other two seats.

"Harry, you're practically family," Kate smiled. "Plus, we know Hermione holds you in very high regard."

"She does, does she?" Harry and Hermione exchanged a brief smile and squeezed hands underneath the table. Once the smiles faded though, they traded knowing looks. Now was the time to tell them.

Hermione waited until after her parents had finished loading their plates with food, and she and Harry did the same. "Mum, Dad," she began casually, "something else has just come up. But it's something good," she added rather hastily upon seeing her parents' faces begin to cloud with worry.

Just like the night before, Harry and Hermione alternated as they told the story of what had happened between them in the early hours of the morning, when Hermione's parents had been deep in sleep. Adam and Kate Granger kept their faces free of any indication of what they were feeling while Harry and Hermione were talking, spilling their hearts out to them in a way that could only be described as genuine. When Harry and Hermione had finished, Hermione's parents took note of the young couple's hands, which were now resting upon the surface of the table, between the now empty plates of food and clasped tightly together.

When her parents gave no response to what they had just heard, Hermione looked nervously between them. "Well?" Her voice sounded as fretful as she looked, as if she feared that her parents would lash out without fair warning.

Adam set down his knife and fork and pushed his plate away. "Well, Hermione, your mother and I would be lying if we said we weren't surprised."

Hermione nodded in a rather pacifying way. "You're concerned it's all happening too fast."

"Yes," said Kate. "You both just lost the people you were supposed to marry. And then, hours later, you fall in love with each other?"

"It didn't happen _all of a sudden_, Mum." Hermione herself was a bit surprised at how firm her voice sounded. "You remember how often I wrote home about Harry during our first three years at Hogwarts. Back then, you knew full well how much I was in love with him. This is just those feelings being reawakened; it's _not_ just something that happened in the spur of the moment."

"Sweetheart," said Adam softly, "we just want to make sure this is something the both of you truly want. After all, last night, the two of you were in a pretty vulnerable state and all."

"Mr. Granger, I assure you that I would never take advantage of Hermione like that. It's just that I had a bad dream last night and when Hermione came to calm me down, we got to talking and pretty soon, we realized what our true feelings were." Harry made sure his voice didn't sound too strong, as he didn't want to give Mr. Granger the wrong impression about last night's events.

Adam turned his attention back to Hermione. "Were your feelings for Ron ever genuine, then?"

Hermione's eyes darted over to the wall, then back to her father. "I thought they were. Maybe part of me was convinced that by getting together with Ron, I could somehow make Harry jealous and see the truth. When it eventually got to the point where my relationship with Ron had to grow more intimate, I admit I became conflicted." Hermione looked into Harry's eyes. "But I never stopped caring for Harry. Not once."

"I've just been a fool," Harry admitted. "During school, I behaved like all other boys and busied myself with the girls who fell into the more traditional category of 'attractive'. What I didn't realize was I had the perfect girl right in front of me all along."

Mr. and Mrs. Granger studied Harry and Hermione closely, but there was really no need to do so. From a mere glance, it was clearly evident that there was a love radiating from them that was stronger than anything that had been previously seen between Ron and Hermione or Harry and Ginny. It made Hermione's parents smile warmly as they became more settled by the sudden spark of love between Harry and Hermione.

"Well, it seems our doubts have just been swept away," said Kate, "seeing the two of you like this."

"You really do love each other, don't you?" asked Adam. Harry and Hermione nodded. "Then who are we to question your feelings if you know this is what we want?"

"Thank you," Hermione said gratefully to her parents. "Now we just need to worry about convincing everyone _else_ that Harry and I really do love each other."

"You just have to figure out the right time to tell everyone," said Adam as he folded his hands together, his elbows in front of him on the table.

Harry and Hermione nodded in agreement. Then, Harry turned to Hermione once again. "So…you wrote home about me a lot, eh? Anything good?"

"I could show you the letters if you like," joked Kate. "We still have them."

"Really?" Harry smirked. "Well, I could always do with a bit of light reading."

Hermione playfully punched Harry on the arm while Harry grinned roguishly.

"So, do you two have anything planned for today?" Kate inquired.

Harry took a sip of his orange juice that was still left. "Hopefully, I can get a few more answers." He looked at the Grangers and noticed that they both wore slightly confused expressions. "Hermione and I have, er, took it upon ourselves to bring the people who killed Ron and Ginny to justice."

"Could we be in any danger?" Kate asked tepidly.

"Not as long as the wards Harry and I put up around the house remain intact," said Hermione. "Although," she added darkly, "that still doesn't rule out the possibility of people Apparating inside if they know where this house is."

"But that's a small number of people," Harry interjected.

"But it's like you said, Harry, how can we be sure of who to trust right now?"

Harry stared into space thoughtfully. "Barnes was the only other person Ron told that he would be at The Burrow yesterday. Whoever sent hit wizards there knew exactly where Ron and Ginny would be."

"So, someone in the Auror Department, then," said Hermione. "Maybe even Barnes himself."

"Barnes may act like he's got a broomstick up his ass most of the time, but he's devoted to his job. I can't see him betraying the Ministry like that. Although, there is the matter of him not choosing to recover John and Daniel willingly. He stated his reasons, but there was something about him that suggested there was something he was hiding."

"If the Head of the Auror Department is corrupt, then that potentially puts every Auror in the Division at risk. We're going to need all the help we can get." Hermione looked meaningfully at Harry. "I think it's time we decide whether Ian and Ann can be trusted."

Harry nodded. "I think you're right. I'll question them when I go into the Ministry today, but there are quicker methods than Veritaserum."

Just then, a tapping noise filled the kitchen. Everyone averted their gaze to the far window, where they concluded the noise to be coming from, and Harry and Hermione were met with the sight of the same pure black owl that had delivered the warning yesterday. Harry quickly got to his feet and crossed the room over to the window and opened it, which allowed the owl to swoop inside fluidly. Just like before, the owl deposited the envelope clutched between its talons at Harry's feet and came to rest on the kitchen counter. Harry picked up the envelope and tore it open.

The letter contained inside it was written in the same scrawl as the one yesterday.

"_You can find the REAL William Donovan at Number Six, Lexington Lane. He won't talk without the Minister of Magic present. You must talk to him before it is too late._"

It was signed by the same person: The Shadow.

Harry let Hermione read the letter and as she did, her eyes widened and then narrowed. "Who _is _this Shadow person?" she asked with a great amount of curiosity in her voice.

"Someone who's determined to help us, apparently," said Harry. "He warned us about the attack on the Ministry, and now he's telling where we can find the real William Donovan. I think we should take his word, don't you?"

Hermione glanced back at the letter. "It sounds like you're going to have to convince the Minister to come along with you."

"It makes sense. Donovan will want to be assured that whatever he reveals won't come back to hurt him. Kingsley will be able to offer him the best protection."

"We hope."

Harry checked his wristwatch. "I should get a move on. Kingsley will be in the office by now, so I'll get Marcus to come with him." As Harry put his dishes in the sink, the black owl flew out of the kitchen and back into the morning sky that was slowly becoming tinged with blue. "Hermione, can I have a quick word?"

Hermione nodded and promptly followed him outside into the hallway. "I have a feeling of what you're going to say to me. You want me to stay here and protect my parents, just in case."

"It's just a precaution. For all we know, Malfoy has some advanced magic that could allow him to get past Repelling Charms. I don't want to leave your parents unprotected."

"I understand." Hermione moved closer to Harry and leaned tenderly against him, kissing him softly but passionately. "Just be careful," she whispered when she broke off the kiss.

"I will." Harry gave her one final kiss before departing through the front door. Hermione turned around and returned to her parents in the kitchen.

-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Lots of surprised expressions met Harry as he walked casually into Auror Headquarters on the second floor of the Ministry, making his way toward Marcus's office. He finally reached it and knocked twice, but didn't wait for a reply to open the door.

"Harry!" Marcus got to his feet, evidently surprised to see him. "I thought you were going to take the day off."

"Change of plans, I guess you could say. I need to talk to the Minister, Ian and Ann."

"What for?"

"Just get them in here, please."

Marcus stared at Harry for a moment, but then obliged by going over to his door, opening it, and using his wand to draw Ian and Ann's names in the air, a signal for them to come into the office right away. It didn't take long for the two of them to get the message, for Ian and Ann showed up in Marcus's office mere seconds later, looks of curiosity stamped across their faces.

They looked at Harry in mild surprise, but before they could say anything, Harry held up a hand to shush them. He got out his own wand, and with one quick flick, all the blinds in Marcus's office were magically drawn closed.

"Now," said Marcus, "kindly tell us what this is all about."

"Hermione and I have decided to go after Malfoy," Harry replied without preamble. "The reason Ron and Ginny were killed was because we were getting too close to discovering what Malfoy is up to now, so he had hit wizards sent to The Burrow."

Surreptitiously, Harry pointed his wand in the general vicinity of Ian and Ann while everyone reacted to this news. Marcus placed his right hand over his mouth, Ian ran his hand through his hair and Ann looked down at her feet. In these moments of silence, Harry mentally uttered an incantation that made an invisible wisp of smoke issue forth from his wand and surround not only Ian and Ann, but Marcus as well. This invisible smoke would cause the people enclosed inside it to tell nothing but the truth when asked direct questions. Harry figured it to be the more desirable method, as he doubted whether any of his coworkers would have willingly submitted to taking Veritaserum, given what Harry needed to know.

"Now, this is a question I have to ask all of you," Harry said in a slightly nervous tone, as he was partly dreading hearing the wrong answer. "What do any of you know about The Book of Merlin?"

The effect of Harry's spell was instantaneous. Ian was the first to speak. "The Book of Merlin? The name doesn't sound familiar."

The doubt in Harry's stomach started to recede, but he still narrowed his eyes just the same. "Are you sure?"

"Yes," said Ann in what Harry thought sounded like a very truthful voice. "The name of a book like that sounds like something that would stick in your mind, wouldn't you say?"

Harry turned to Marcus. "How about you?"

Marcus shook his head. "Nothing."

Harry breathed a sigh of relief. He and Hermione could bring them into the know after all. "Okay. Well, we believe The Book is the thing Lucius Malfoy's concerned with at the moment. Now, neither Hermione nor I have any idea what The Book can do exactly, so we don't have any way of knowing why Malfoy would want it so bad."

"So how do you intend to go about getting that information?" asked Marcus.

"Someone who's named themselves 'The Shadow' recently contacted me by owl post. They told me where I can find a man named William Donovan, who it's been confirmed knows something about The Book of Merlin and Malfoy's desire to get his hands on it. But Donovan will only talk to me if the Minister is present."

As if on cue, a loud cracking sound announced the arrival of Kingsley, who was staring straight at Marcus. "I received word that you wanted to see me," he said his commanding, deep voice.

"Actually," Harry spoke up, "that would be _me_."

Kingsley inclined his head toward Harry. "Harry. What are you doing here?" Obviously, word of Ron and Ginny's deaths had reached his ears.

"Kingsley, there's little time to explain, but I need you to come with Ian, Ann and me." At the mention of their names, Ian and Ann regarded Harry inquiringly.

"Where to?" Kingsley asked rather plainly.

"The place where William Donovan currently is," replied Harry.

Kingsley lifted his chin high, his eyes still on Harry. "And what does my secretary have to with anything?"

"A lot, as it turns out. I need to question him, but he won't allow me to do so unless you accompany me."

Kingsley's face contorted in concentration as he mulled this over. Finally, he nodded in agreement. "Very well. But Harry, you must promise me that if you have to resort to…physical coercion, it'll be absolutely necessary."

"That's how I _always_ operate, Kingsley," said Harry.

"So, where are we going?"

"Number Six, Lexington Lane. Do you know it?"

"Yes," replied Kingsley. "It's where William lives."

"Okay, well since you know where it is, we'll use Side-Long Apparition to get there." Harry walked over to stand beside Kingsley, as did Ian and Ann. But before any of them grabbed onto the Minister, Harry faced Marcus. "If Barnes should ask any questions about where we are, I trust you'll come up with something? For not only us, but the Minister as well?"

"It's not like I haven't done it before," winked Marcus. "Although, I feel compelled to ask if all this is really as dangerous as you've alluded it to be, Harry? This whole affair with The Book of Merlin?"

"It is," Harry stated firmly. "And I know I can trust you to help me out as always."

The last image Harry had of Marcus before being overcome with the jolting feeling of being tugged forward by the navel and broken apart into a million pieces was of him winking with his trademark rogue smile in place. When the disassembled sensation passed, Harry found himself standing on a narrow sidewalk in front of a single-story gray house. The cloudy sky above made the gloomy-looking house appear even more dreary than it had upon first glance. If a house's purpose was to reflect what kind of person inhabited it, then Harry deduced that William Donovan would turn out to be a rather dull individual.

Kingsley led the way as they approached the front door, his wand already hanging at his side. Harry, Ian and Ann had fallen suit by the time they were directly in front of the door.

Without saying a word, Kingsley raised his wand and flicked it swiftly, which made the rusted brass doorknob twist of its own accord so that the door itself opened as if ushered by an invisible hand. With it, came the ominous creaking sound of the door's hinges being put to work.

The group collectively muttered "_Lumos_", and the tips of their wands ignited in small balls of light that penetrated the awaiting darkness inside the house. Harry was instantly reminded of the summer before his sixth year at Hogwarts, when he and Dumbledore had entered Horace Slughorn's similarly silent abode. The tension in the air seemed a bit too familiar for Harry's liking.

They moved through the plain-looking house cautiously, half expecting to be ambushed by dangerous figures at any moment. They passed a clean hallway with unremarkable wallpaper sporting patterns of colored vines, walked past an open archway that led into what appeared to be a comfortable-looking den until they finally came to the centerpiece of the house: the living room.

Much like every other wizard's living room Harry had ever been in, William Donovan's contained objects of magical nature, some more inconspicuous than others. But unlike all the other living rooms, Donovan's collection of everyday magical artifacts was strewn about the area in a way that would've made house elves eager to clean up. It was more of an unconcerned mess than the aftermath of a possible struggle. And standing, slightly hunched, before the window in the living room was the person Harry could only assume was William Donovan.

At the sound of a new presence in the room with him, Donovan turned around. By the light of all the wands, Harry could see that Donovan looked extremely weary. Unlike the person who had impersonated him yesterday, the real William Donovan appeared to be as young as Percy had been when he was taken on by the Ministry. Donovan had dark hair and a few days' worth of thick stubble on his face, as well as a worried expression on his face. In the time it had taken him to turn around, Donovan had whipped out his wand, but when he saw who it was, he quickly put it away.

Harry, his eyes never leaving Donovan's, addressed Kingsley. "Is that William Donovan?"

"Indeed it is."

Harry nodded in satisfaction, the word of the Minister being good enough for him. After all, he had no reason to suspect that they were dealing with another Confundus Charm. Harry pointed his wand at a nearby lamp, and it lit up immediately, soon followed by the rest that were there, comparable to a line of dominoes falling over sequentially. This eliminated the need for the lights on their wands, so everybody extinguished them with a firm squeeze on the handles.

"He told me to expect you," said Donovan closed the curtains of the window, obviously to avoid catching the attention of any unwanted eyes. To Harry, Donovan's tone of voice seemed to be located somewhere between nervous and relaxed; an odd combination.

"Who is '_he_', exactly?" Harry asked.

"I'm not sure of his actual name, but he referred to himself as 'The Shadow'."

"Were you able to recognize him?" Ann inquired.

"Afraid not. He kept his hood up the whole time he was with me, and I'm positive the voice he spoke with was altered. Obviously, he wanted to keep his identity a secret, but he did say that he would soon be meeting with Harry and Hermione." Donovan looked straight at Harry.

"Did he say when?" Harry was most anxious to meet this Shadow.

"No, but he also said you'd know when the time to do so would come." Donovan then calmly walked over to a nearby armchair and sat down it, scattering away pieces of discarded junk in front of it with his foot. "But onto more pressing matters. No doubt you're well aware of why we're meeting with each other?"

"Yes," said Harry as he took a seat on the red couch behind him, followed by Kingsley and the others; Ian opted to half-sit, half-stand on the couch's arm. "You know something vital about what Lucius Malfoy is currently up to."

"But I wish I didn't," Donovan replied in a grave voice. His eyes reflected both sadness and regret. He leaned forward in the chair. "Before I go on, I want assurances that the Ministry will protect me at whatever cost."

Harry internally grinned; this was the second time in two days he had been down this road. He looked to Kingsley, who in turn was staring unwaveringly at Donovan.

"William," the Minister said, "I promise that after you cooperate with Harry and his fellow Aurors here, I'll make sure that Lucius Malfoy won't even be able to so much as point a finger at you."

Seeing as how Donovan knew Kingsley the best out of everyone in the room, he nodded gratefully, an expression of reassurance plastered across his face. Donovan took a steadying breath before continuing. "Okay. This all started with me carrying out one of the Minister's orders." When Kingsley's expression turned slightly confused, Donovan plowed on. "You see, for quite some time, Lucius Malfoy has been operating in secrecy, with the Ministry hardly able to get an idea of what he's been doing. Kingsley was getting a bit wearisome of the Auror Department's slow progress, so he went to Liam Barnes and made a _special request_, you could say."

Harry glanced briefly at Kingsley, whose face was gradually getting slackened in realization. "And what request was that?"

"That someone who was _not_ an Auror infiltrate Malfoy's ranks to get information on his dealings so that Barnes could organize a proper assault on Malfoy's house, where it's known he now operates from time to time."

"Let me guess," said Harry, "_you_ were the one chosen for that assignment."

Donovan gave an almost imperceptible nod. "Yeah. Of course, Barnes went for it. The reason I was chosen was because my face would be the most unrecognizable to Malfoy. Almost everybody else who works at the Ministry, Malfoy is somehow acquainted with. So, with a few slight physical altercations, I successfully worked my way into Malfoy's inner circle.

"The plan went off like clockwork. Once I had provided Malfoy with a few demonstrations of, shall we say, dark talent, he accepted me. Pretty soon, he began to trust me with information…information concerning what he was planning." Here, Donovan took a breath, but it wasn't long enough to allow Harry to get in a comment. "He talked about having been hired by someone to form a group to find something called The Book of Merlin."

"Why wasn't I informed of what you had found out?" Kingsley asked sharply.

"And how is it that you were able to escape from Malfoy with this knowledge?" added Ian.

Donovan chose to answer Kingsley's question first. "When I came to Barnes with what I had found out, he told me that it was too sensitive to share with anyone else."

"Why?" It was clear that Kingsley was becoming pretty annoyed.

Donovan hesitated, looking from his hands and back to Harry and Kingsley. "Because Malfoy said that the people who wanted The Book were planning on using to assassinate the Minister."

Harry's blood ran cold at these words, and from the looks of it, so did Kingsley's. "Do you know what The Book is or what it can do?"

"Well, obviously, it's a book; one of extreme importance and historical significance. Specifically, it's the book Merlin himself used to record every single one of his spells and methods. The Book has unprecedented power, and could possibly be used _against_ the magical community, if in the wrong hands. Think about it: Merlin could be called perhaps the most powerful wizard in history, and if his power really is contained in a book, then I shudder to think what a Dark Wizard could do with it."

"If that person became Minister of Magic," Harry mused, "nobody would want to defy him because they'd be afraid of taking on someone with such vast power."

"So that's why John and Daniel were sent on a secret mission to Malfoy Manor," said Ann. "To stop Lucius Malfoy from finding The Book."

"Correct," Donovan confirmed. "Barnes wanted to keep the operation secret, but when Marcus Bloom recruited Harry and his fellow Aurors to rescue John and Daniel, he became frustrated."

"So I'm guessing Malfoy kidnapped Trelawney in hopes of using her abilities as a Seer to easily discover The Book's location." With every new bit of information, the scope of everything fully dawned on Harry. "You never answered how you escaped from Malfoy."

"Narrowly," said Donovan. "It seems someone let slip my true identity, but before Malfoy could kill me, I managed to escape."

Harry's eyes widened. Donovan's words confirmed that there indeed was a traitor within the Ministry; someone very close to the Auror Department. "Do you think it was Barnes?"

"I seriously doubt it. Barnes is the type of man who would eat his own foot before betraying his office."

Harry nodded, but inside, he was ardent in doubting that reasoning. For all they knew, the attitude Barnes normally exuded was a well-played cover. However, Harry couldn't ignore a tiny voice in his head that was repeating one word over and over: "_Snape…Snape…_"

Ann's voice brought Harry out of his small reverie. "Nonetheless, it would still be wise for us not to include anybody else where this is concerned. I'm pretty sure Barnes wouldn't approve of Hermione and you embarking on your own mission."

"Why?" asked Ian. "As long as it gets us closer to taking down Lucius Malfoy, I would think Barnes would be on board."

"Actually, he wouldn't," argued Ann. "Because Barnes always likes to be in control of his Aurors, and he would _never_ tolerate someone acting outside his authority. No, like I was saying, it'd be wise to prevent this information from going any further than it already has. This is between Harry, Hermione and Lucius Malfoy."

Her words and the way she said them vaguely reminded Harry of Hermione herself, and it made him grin an infinitesimal grin. But he quickly hid it. "It is," he said. "Hermione and I feel like we have to bring Lucius Malfoy to justice. It's the only way we know how to honor Ron and Ginny's memories." A few minutes of silence followed, which Harry broke by asking Donovan another question. "Did Malfoy ever find out where The Book is now hidden?"

Donovan shook his head. "No, not as long as I was with him. But after I left…, well, who knows what he's learned since then?"

Harry turned to Ian and Ann. "That gives us a little head start, then. If Hermione and I can find a way to learn more about The Book, we might be able to discover where it's hidden."

"What, you figure you'll just _happen _to stumble across the right historical records that'll point you to The Book?" Ian's skepticism carried over into his voice.

Harry smirked. "Have you even _met_ Hermione?"

Ian shrugged his shoulders and made a face that seemed to say "Good point".

"So is that all we need?" Ann asked Harry.

"Unless there's anything else…?" Harry prompted Donovan, who gazed up at the ceiling in thought, but then shook his head no. "Alright. Ian and Ann will accompany you back to the Ministry, where the Minister himself will take you through any steps that need to be taken in order to ensure your protection."

Donovan silently nodded his understanding and they all lifted themselves from their seats.

"Now, just to be sure your story checks out, I'm requesting that either Ian or Ann feed you Veritaserum and ask you the same questions over again." Harry glanced at Ian and Ann, who nodded their assent. "But with your permission, of course," Harry added hastily to make it not sound as if they would be treating him like a prisoner.

"I understand," Donovan said. "As long as it gets me protection from Lucius Malfoy, I'll do it."

Harry half-smiled and pulled Ian and Ann aside as Kingsley began conversing with Donovan. When Harry had them well out of ear range of Kingsley and Donovan, he talked to Ian and Ann in a hushed tone.

"Okay, here's the deal. Hermione and I are staying at her parents' house for the time being, but it has Repelling Jinxes up around it, so the only successful way to reach us is Apparition." Harry gave them the address of the house. "If anything important should come up concerning The Book or Malfoy, come there straight away."

"Okay," Ian and Ann said in unison.

"How much longer do you think you'll be staying there?" asked Ann.

"Probably just one more day," said Harry. "We'll really have to start looking for this Book. I'll come with you to observe Donovan's reaction to the Veritaserum, then I'm going back to Hermione."

"How are you two holding up?" Ann asked in a soothing voice.

"Fine," Harry answered, perhaps a bit quicker than he would've liked. He wasn't sure that telling anyone else about his and Hermione's newfound love was such a good idea right now, especially since it was so soon after Ron and Ginny's deaths. "We're, um, helping each other through everything."

Ian and Ann nodded, clearly not wanting to broach the subject any further.

Minutes later, everyone Disapparated from the house, heading back toward the Ministry. Donovan had provided Harry with the final pieces of the puzzle, now it was up to him and Hermione to assemble them in order to see the full picture.


	9. Domestic Disturbance

CHAPTER NINE

_**DOMESTIC DISTURBANCE**_

__It was a bit past sundown when Harry arrived back at the Granger household, and he appeared inside the kitchen just as everyone was putting dinner on the table. It was with great appreciation that Harry gobbled down the invitingly fresh food; due to the pressing work concerning William Donovan, Harry had been forced to skip lunch. When dessert had been cleared from the table, Harry and Hermione politely excused themselves from the table. Harry wanted to keep what he'd learned from Donovan away from Hermione's parents, just in case they were to fall in the line of danger.

Harry and Hermione went upstairs to Hermione's room, and Harry closed the door behind them. But before he could say one word about The Book of Merlin or Lucius Malfoy, something on Hermione's bed caught his eye. It was a cardboard box, and its contents lay strewn over the surface of the bed. The biggest thing was what appeared to be a photo album, and then there were pieces of old parchment scattered around that and the box. Harry cocked an eyebrow curiously and eyed Hermione.

Hermione caught on to what he had seen. "Oh," she said, "Mum found those letters she was talking about this morning, as well as a photo album with pictures of me when I was younger."

For the moment, Harry forgot all about anything relating to The Book and he went over to the bed, clearing away some space for him to sit down. Hermione was right behind him, and placed herself rather closely beside Harry as he pulled the large green photo album onto his lap and opened it. He was met with a page of colored photos (immobile compared to the moving pictures of the magical world), each and every one of them of a little girl, her age varying throughout the photographs. She had bushy brown hair and a smile that showed off two front teeth which were larger than the rest. Hermione was as adorable as she was today.

Harry looked up at the matured young woman who was sitting beside him, her head peeking over her shoulder and her front teeth now the normal size. There was a look in her eyes Harry couldn't accurately describe; he saw happiness there, maybe nostalgia.

"So you _always_ had that smart look in your eye, huh?" he said, turning to the next page of photographs.

Hermione shrugged. "What can I say? When most kids were outside playing around, I could normally be found inside with my nose buried in a book. Not that I never went outside and played or anything, it's just that I found the worlds books provided a glimpse of generally more exciting than rolling around in the dirt."

"And that came in handy when you started Hogwarts, no doubt. You know, at first I thought you were just the usual bookworm, but then you surprised me."

"Oh really?" asked Hermione, a slight smile evident on her face. "How so?"

"Well, after the incident with the troll in the bathroom, I began to see just how compassionate you were. Any girl I'd ever met at the Muggle school I attended before Hogwarts never seemed to want to get to know someone like me, the school-wide laughing stock. Dudley made sure of that." At the mention of the Dursleys' mistreatment of him, Hermione gently rested her chin upon Harry's shoulder. "So, when you became my friend, I began to feel like maybe I wasn't such a loser."

"But you were friends with Ron an entire two months before you warmed up to me. And everyone was immediately nice to you."

"Part of that was just my popularity," said Harry, shaking his head slightly. "You and Ron liked me for who I was as a person, rather than as a legend."

Harry and Hermione were quiet for a few moments, during which time Hermione lifted her chin from Harry's shoulder. "You know," she said as she stared down at her hands, "it was the same with me. I spent all my years in Muggle school being taunted and pestered just because I studied more, made good grades, got on the good side of teachers. I went to Hogwarts believing I'd be able to immediately blend in, because I'd be with other witches and wizards. Those first two months were unbearable at times. Then you came along and made me think that maybe I didn't need to change who I was, that some people could still accept me for who I was. I'd spent all those years convinced that I could never make any friends, but then you changed that. You made me think I mattered to more than just my parents."

"So we're both people who weren't sure of ourselves until we found each other," said Harry. "Two halves of the same whole." Harry and Hermione embraced briefly but tenderly. When they broke apart, one of the letters Hermione had written caught his eye. He picked it up.

Certain phrases stood out to Harry as he read through it. "_I'm not sure if I should tell Harry how I really feel_" or "_I'm scared for him, I really want to be there for him, but I don't know if he'd accept it._" It was true; Harry wasn't sure how he would've reacted when told he was the object of a girl's desire at such a young age. He had been so enamored with girls like Cho, he probably would have disappointed Hermione if she'd told him she was in love with him. It was too bad that it took Harry this long to realize that what he had mistaken for sisterly affection toward Hermione had actually been much more than that. Then again, perhaps it was better that it had taken him this long, because he couldn't even begin to imagine how it would have been if he'd have been forced to keep Hermione as far away from the hunt for the Horcruxes as possible in order to protect her. He needed Hermione, and she needed him. It was a perfect match.

Harry shifted aside the letter, his eyes full of emotion. "I'm sorry," he said heavily.

Hermione gave him a confused look. "For what?"

"For putting you through all those moments of emotional pain. It must've been very hard to spend every day with me, hoping I'd eventually love you back, but continually being disappointed."

"It wasn't your fault," Hermione protested in a genuine voice. "It wasn't like you were purposely avoiding your feelings for me. You were just too occupied to realize you were having them. I understand, Harry. The things you had to worry about as a teenager were things people shouldn't have to worry about until they're well into their lives."

"When this is all over," Harry said as he shifted his position on the bed so that he was directly facing Hermione, "I can't wait to finally settle down with the right person. With you." Harry gently put his right palm against the back of Hermione's head and stroked it lovingly. To Harry, it just felt _right_.

Hermione leaned in and gave him a kiss that seemed to last a minute. A while after they broke apart, Harry and Hermione suddenly remembered the reason why they had absconded up to the privacy of Hermione's room in the first place.

"So what did you find out from Donovan?" Hermione inquired, her body language indicating that she was ready for some answers.

For the better part of the next twenty or so minutes, Harry recounted to Hermione exactly what had happened since he had departed earlier that morning. From discovering that Ian and Ann were indeed trustworthy to the reason why Barnes had sent John and Daniel after Lucius Malfoy, Harry didn't leave out one minor detail. Once he had finished, Hermione stared at him in thoughtful silence.

"So what do you think?" Harry asked when Hermione went half a minute without saying anything.

"Clearly, we have to get The Book before Malfoy does," Hermione said grimly. "Otherwise, who knows what kind of chaos he'll inflict upon the magical community with it?"

"But where are we going to find information about The Book? If _you_ haven't come across anything about it before now, then what do our chances look like?" It was a rhetorical question.

"If Malfoy hasn't already squandered any or all resources leading to The Book, then there's still a chance we can find it," Hermione muttered encouragingly.

Harry nodded, then looked around at their surroundings. "Listen, maybe it's time we find somewhere else to stay. We've troubled your parents long enough, and us knowing more than we did this morning puts them at greater risk. I _do not_ want to put their lives on the line any further."

"You know, your nobility and your tendency to put the welfare of others before yours can be a real pain sometime."

"What would you have me do?" Harry asked, a bit sharper than he wanted. "Look, Hermione, I know they're your parents, but do you really to keep everything this way? With them this close," Harry held up his thumb and forefinger, which were a millimeter apart, "to death? If we stay here, who knows what Malfoy would do to your parents if he got hold of them?"

There was a distant expression on Hermione's face now, and even though her eyes were completely dry, they looked as they would if tears actually were forming inside them. "I'm sorry. Of _course_ I understand that, but…I don't know. I was forced once already to let them go during a time like this, and I'm not sure if I can stand to do it again."

Harry felt a knot form in his stomach. With a pang of guilt, he remembered how it had been he who was the reason behind Hermione having to modify the memories of her parents for their protection two years ago. He'd be damned if he had to put Hermione through that again. "I'm not going to put you through that kind of trouble again," he said firmly. "But I know that both of us will feel better if your parents are offered _some_ kind of protection."

"We can send them to my aunt and uncle's house," Hermione stated almost immediately. "No one in the magical community is even aware of who my aunt and uncle are, so Mum and Dad will have the best protection there." Hermione stared at Harry with meaningful eyes. "Can't we at least spend the night again?"

Hermione's pleading pout, which Harry had rarely ever seen before, was nevertheless effective enough to make him cave. "Fine," he said, half of his mouth curving up into a smirk. "But I want your Mum and Dad moved tonight. Ian and Ann can accompany them to where they need to go while we stay here for an extra night."

"And where do we go from here?"

"I'm still working on that. If worst comes to worst, I think I have a place in mind, at least until we can set up a meeting with The Shadow." Harry got up and walked over to the window so he could open it. He pulled out his wand and aimed it at the clear night sky before sending off two colorless jets of light. Harry closed the door, then casually leaned against the wall beside the window, crossing his arms patiently.

About a minute elapsed before there came a loud _crack!_ from the middle of the room, and Ian and Ann suddenly stood there with expectant looks on their faces.

"What is it, Harry?" Ian asked immediately.

"We need to move Hermione's parents to a safe location," said Harry as he stepped forward. "And _not_ one of our places," he added quickly, for Ian looked like he had been about to make a suggestion.

"Where, then?"

"My aunt and uncle's house," Hermione spoke up. "Hardly anybody else knows about it, so they won't look there."

"And we need to move them _right now_," Harry stressed. "Before they fall into any real danger. Get them to tell you where to go, then take them there."

Ann faced Hermione. "Where are they?"

"Downstairs."

Everybody then exited Hermione's room, heading downstairs toward the living room. When they arrived there, Mr. and Mrs. Granger looked up from what they had been doing, then got to their feet.

"Mum, we need you to go with these Aurors to Aunt Julia's house." The urgency in Hermione's voice as she indicated Ian and Ann appeared to be enough to convince Hermione's parents to follow the request without any argument. Harry assumed it had something to do with the circumstances of his and Hermione's stay with them.

As Hermione hurriedly relayed the plan to her parents on their way to the front door, Harry gripped his wand tighter. He quickly banished the part of the Repelling Charm that had been directly in front of the door to clear a path for them all as they stepped outside.

"The moment this is all over," Harry heard Hermione saying earnestly to her parents, "we'll come and bring you back home."

"Should we be taking any belongings" Mr. Granger asked uncertainly.

"Aunt Julia will have spare clothes and everything, I'm sure," Hermione said, rather dismissively. "The important thing is to get you out of here as soon as possible." She paused to take a breath, looking at her parents with a great deal of love in her eyes. "If we could do this any other way --…"

"Hermione," Mrs. Granger began soothingly, "just be careful out there."

"Harry and I can handle ourselves," Hermione stated reassuringly. "But if anything should…. I love you both. So much."

"We love you too, sweetheart," said Mr. Granger as he and his wife enveloped their daughter in a tight hug that was so strong, it seemed as if no one wanted to let go. But, after a few minutes, they finally did.

"Go," Hermione whispered. "Go now."

But before anybody could make another move, two loud _cracks!_ reverberated through the still night air and pretty soon, a pair of cloaked figures with outstretched wands had appeared, surrounding Harry and the others.

Harry needed no further coaxing. He dashed over to Hermione and her parents and yanked them down just as a collection of spells shot toward them and then collided with a roar like that of thunder in midair. Harry felt the tips of a few of his hairs ripple from the force of the spell explosion. In the time during which all this happened Ian and Ann had made their way over to everyone else.

"Get them out of here!" Harry shouted to them while narrowly missing another spell that collided with the spot on the ground where his hand had been moments before.

Without another word spoken between them, Ian and Ann took hold of the arms of Hermione's parents and a second later, they had evaporated into thin air. This left Harry and Hermione alone to fend for themselves in the middle of people clearly under the employ of Malfoy. The answer to how Malfoy had been able to ascertain their location would have to wait, Harry told himself. The only important thing now was staying alive long enough to escape.

Due to Harry already getting rid of part of the Repelling Charms shrouding the Granger house, Malfoy's men had already got to work on removing the rest of the Charm, their purpose for doing so immediately obvious. Quick as a flash, Harry extended his wand, upside down, out in front of him and with a sharp will of concentration, a blanket of periwinkle blue light emanated from the end and expanded outward in a dome-like shape around Harry and Hermione, blocking them from Malfoy's goons. However, the henchmen still persisted in attempting to hit Harry with the spells, but they soon discovered it was to no avail. Each time a differently colored spell made contact with Harry's shimmering shield, the shield absorbed the spell with a great deal of rippling in its smooth surface before it returned back to normal.

Meanwhile, Hermione had busied herself with trying to repair the Repelling Charms, but due to the impenetrable surface of the blue shield, it wasn't working at all. So, Hermione was eventually forced to give up. She whipped around to face Harry and shouted out "Get inside!"

Still maintaining the protective shield, Harry steadily backed away into the house, and once he and Hermione were inside, retracted his shield and shut the door. But Harry could have simply left it open for all the good it did to close it; Harry and Hermione had barely turned around and taken two steps down the hall before the door was blown off its hinges with a bang like that of a gunshot blast from a high-powered rifle. After a brief burst of red light, the door sailed through the air and collided once with the floor, then another time with the ceiling before coming crashing down in the living room. Harry and Hermione had to duck and then move sideways to avoid it.

Harry looked up from his arms, which were covering his head protectively, to see a crackling burst of blue rocketing directly toward him. Quickly, Harry seized hold of the staircase railing, which was directly above him, and hauled himself over it. He landed awkwardly on the stairs as the blue light rushed past, narrowly missing Hermione's chest, and chewing out a piece of wall once it collided against it. With a fresh pain in his ribs, Harry pulled himself to his feet on the stairs and turned his attention to the front door, which now had the two cloaked men coming over the threshold. The first one saw Harry immediately and pointed his wand at the base of the stairs.

A split second later, each stair began to explode in a shower of orange light and splintered wood. This chain reaction of contained explosions was progressively making its way toward Harry, so he had no choice but to flee up the still-intact stairs. Even though it took him a few seconds, it felt longer. Harry didn't bother looking over his shoulder, but he assumed that there was one instance where the explosions had been very close to enveloping him. Finally, he was on safe ground again once his feet made contact with the second floor landing, but the staircase had been completely demolished.

Harry swiveled around, and just in time too, because the cloaked hit wizard had suspended himself in midair and was now rocketing through the air toward Harry at an alarming rate. Fortunately, Harry had enough time to react. He aimed his wand and shouted "_EXPELLIARMUS!_" with all his might. The force of the spell was so strong that not only did it halt the hit wizard's progress, it also sent him shooting through the glass window near the ceiling and out onto the street outside. For a moment, Harry thought he could momentarily relax, but he was sorely mistaken.

The second hit wizard to enter the house had uttered a spell which caused a stream of flames to burst forth from his wand. The line of flames soon split into two, one chasing after Harry and the other going after Hermione. As the flames fast approached Harry, he took notice of the fact that the tip of them had the shape of a snake's head, complete with slits for eyes and a fanged mouth. Harry threw himself to the ground to avoid it, but the fire snake simply regained its bearings and set its sights back on Harry. It lunged in for the kill, but was pushed aside by a swipe of Harry's wand. Harry used the opportunity to get back to his feet, by which time the fire snake was eyeing its prey once more. Harry took two steps back, then held his wand at the ready as the snake lunged once more.

Holding his wand with both hands out to his right like a sword, Harry focused his will so that his wand had a clear blue casing form around it. That blue ice-like casing penetrated deep into the flames of the snake, causing a high-pitched yell and a sizzling sound to permeate through the air. Once Harry's wand had completely passed through the fire snake, what was left of it seemed to decide it didn't want to face Harry anymore, so it twirled around briefly in the air and flew straight toward the floor of the living room.

Harry tried to dash after it, to perhaps use his wand to grab it by the flaming tail, but he forgot about the railing. He crashed into it and toppled over the edge, but managed to grab the top of the railing just in time, his wand still in his right hand.

Below, the fire snake had connected with the floor of the living room and the instant it did, the floor ignited in flame. Within seconds the fire started to spread dangerously, devouring anything and everything in its path. With it came a fresh wave of sweltering heat.

On the ground, Hermione was fending off her own fire snake while simultaneously trying to defeat the other hit wizard. With a complex series of wand movements, Hermione had been able to conjure up a snake of her own, this one made of water. Hermione ducked out of the way and let the two snakes have at it. But it didn't take long. The water snake lunged forward and sunk its fangs into the throat of the fire snake. The end result was a portion of the flames being ripped away in a fashion much similar to flesh being bitten and flung aside; the flames evaporated into nothingness before they hit the ground. Then, the water snake opened its mouth unusually wide and in one fluid motion, swallowed the fire snake entirely, leaving no trace of it behind whatsoever. But that did nothing to halt the progress of the remnants of the first fire snake, for Hermione's water snake dissipated seconds after it had swallowed its adversary.

"Hermione!" Harry yelled out from his gradually loosening position of holding the railing, the sweat of his palms working against him. "Help!"

Hermione jerked her head upward and her face went slack with shock the moment she spotted Harry hanging there. She promptly aimed her wand at the untouched sofa, and it skidded across the floor of its own accord until it was situated directly underneath Harry.

"Try and fall on the sofa!" she cried out.

"Easy for _you_ to say!" Harry shouted in retort, but he let go of the railing just the same, his arms flailing in the air beside him as he fell. Luckily, he managed to hit the sofa safely and even though he landed in such a way that he flipped over and fell face first on the floor afterward, Harry was pretty much unscathed. Although, his ribs were still aching a bit from the stairs.

Harry hurriedly picked himself back up so that he was standing beside Hermione, both of their wands aimed at the hit wizard. All of them seemed to be oblivious to the inferno that was now raging around them.

Not wasting any more time, all three of them instantly engaged in battle. Or, more accurately, Harry and Hermione were able to get the drop on the hit wizard before he could do much of anything. As one, Harry and Hermione conjured up another shield that repelled a spell that had already been sent their way, which rebounded upon its caster. A wave of teal light swept over the hit wizard and appeared to cause him great pain. But through that pain, the hit wizard lifted his wand over his head and what looked to be a flying pillar of smoke billowed forth from the tip and flew toward Harry and Hermione, the fire still raging around them.

Apparently Harry and Hermione's shield wasn't enough to stop the smoke, because it plowed right through the shield, making it evaporate into nothing as it did so. Before Harry even had time to prepare himself, the black smoke engulfed him.

Harry found himself trapped in a swirling mass of blackness that any outside light was powerless to penetrate. It felt as if numerous, sharp-clawed hands were grabbing at him, attempting to pull him into the smoke even more. It took Harry a great effort to lift his wand from his side and use it to create an orb of sea blue light that grew steadily bigger with each passing second. Eventually, Harry was forced to bow his head against his wand due to the brightness of the blue orb, which was now the size of a bowling ball. When the orb had swelled to the size of a tire …that was when it happened. With a unusual sounding bang, the blue orb exploded around Harry, blasting apart the cyclone of black smoke so that it flew outward in various pieces of blue and black, and thus freed Harry.

In a movement so swift, there seemed to be an accompanying gush of wind, Harry swung his wand in a curved downward arc; Hermione did the same. The floor of the hallway cracked and in those cracks were slivers of a red light that reached up and grabbed the hit wizard by his ankles the moment it came underneath him. The red light, much like a crimson whip, carried the hit wizard a few feet into the air before flinging him hard against the wall, where the hit wizard slumped down, unconscious.

Harry and Hermione then turned toward the raging fire behind them, a method of extinguishing the flames already running through their minds. They put their wands together, side by side, and as one Harry and Hermione shouted out the incantation "_AQUEDUCTO MAXIMA!_" prior to bringing their wands forcefully to the ground. Like an explosion from a bomb, a surge of shimmering clear water blasted out of the wands in a circular shape and covered every bit of surface in the living room. The flames were instantly extinguished as the result of the copious amount of water, and everything got soaked, including Harry and Hermione.

As a result of the great force the water blast carried, Harry and Hermione were thrown backward. When the small rain shower had desisted, they picked themselves back up and surveyed what they had just done. As hoped, the fire had been put out and the only trace of it that remained was the sight and smell of smoke. But the damage that had been done wasn't anything that couldn't be easily repaired. Harry glanced over his shoulder to make sure the hit wizard was still unconscious, and was satisfied to see that he indeed was.

Shivering slightly from being doused in cold water, Harry and Hermione turned toward each other, both of them out of breath from the ordeal they had just went through.

"I think we should get out of here," suggested Harry. "Do you have your handbag?"

Hermione clearly seemed taken aback by the rather unexpected question. "Um, I can get it." Her voice carried an uncertain tone to it. With a snap of her fingers, Hermione's handbag appeared in her arms.

"Good," said Harry.

"But what do I need it for?"

"We're getting out of here. Somewhere _familiar_."

Hermione glanced down at the handbag and suddenly, she understood. This very handbag had been detrimental three years ago when she, Harry and Ron had spent the fall, winter and spring in the woods of the distant country in hiding. In it were all the necessary tools for a last-minute camping site, and it was now obvious that Harry intended to fall back on that as their means of regrouping.

"But first…" Harry extended his wand upward and then used the same spell he had back at The Burrow to summon Aurors. It was obvious that this scene needed to be brought to the attention of the Ministry before too many of the neighbors noticed. "We shouldn't wait around for the Aurors to arrive," said Harry.

And with that, he pulled Hermione close to him and together, they Disapparated from the house. When their feet touched solid ground again, Harry and Hermione found themselves standing in the middle of an area dense with trees and where leaves and twigs littered the earthy surface. The only source of light came from the moon, which was peeking out of as many holes in the trees as possible. With a quick uttering of "_Lumos!_" the tips of Harry's and Hermione's wands ignited in yellowish light.

"Need any help?" Harry asked Hermione.

"No, but thanks. It's pretty simple."

Hermione took a few steps forward and set her bag down in the middle of what looked like a suitable area. She undid the clasps of the bag, pointed her wand at the inner contents and seconds later, something huge and fluttering emerged from the bag and expanded outward. It didn't take long for the massive tent to grow to its full size and once it did, there came a soft glow of light from the inside. Harry and Hermione extinguished their wands and stepped over the threshold into the familiar setting.

It was pretty much exactly as Harry remembered it, with the kind of creature comforts one would expect in a normal-sized home, and from the outside, you wouldn't be able to guess that the inside was as spacious as any house. Complete with a main living area, a small kitchen with a small dining table and a set of bunk beds, the tent seemed to be an inhabitable-enough place for any type of sojourn. And it would be enough to last Harry and Hermione however long they needed to stay.

Hermione walked over to a small dresser and opened the drawers to check their contents. When Harry approached for a closer look, he saw that every drawer was filled with clothes for him and Hermione, so they would be spared the trouble of making sure to keep the clothes on their back clean enough to wear for more than one day.

"Highly convenient, this is," Harry remarked as he replaced a solid red shirt in a drawer. "I'm going to go make a fire outside."

"Why? There's plenty of heat already," said Hermione, gesturing toward a miniature furnace on the far wall.

"But we don't know if we're being tracked. I mean, if they found a way to us at your parents' house, who's to say they can't find us here, too? I think it's a good idea for one of us to keep watch outside. Not all night, but long enough to make sure we are indeed alone."

Harry went back outside and stood directly in front of the tent, Hermione by his side. It took only a mere flick of his wand for Harry to conjure up a decently sized fire and two wooden chairs. He and Hermione sat down, wands clutched in their hands and already prepared for any sort of danger that could show up suddenly. The whole time, neither of them spoke, partly because topics worthy of discussion seemed to evade them, and also because they felt like nothing needed to be said.

After what felt like an hour, Hermione got up, feeling very drowsy. "I think I'm going to go to bed now." She stroked his head in almost the same fashion as she had when she and Harry had been in this exact same position all that time ago.

"Okay," Harry replied. "I'll stay out here a bit longer, then cast a Repelling Charm before coming in." He leaned in toward Hermione and they shared a brief but firm kiss. Hermione disappeared inside the tent.

Harry sat there, feeling the first signs of sleepiness himself. He meant to stay awake as long as he could, but before he knew it, his eyes started drooping and finally, he fell asleep thinking about the girl waiting for him inside.

Hermione, on the other hand, was still awake. Unable to succumb to the temptation of rest despite her body's repeated assurances of her weariness, Hermione had situated herself at the small dining table, preoccupied with something. That something was what was keeping her awake and it was currently being held between Hermione's thumb and forefinger. The ring Ron had given her after he had proposed shone brilliantly in the light, even though there was now hardly any in the tent.

What had kept Hermione up were the conflicting storms of emotion raging inside of her. Should she be feeling guilty for going over to Harry so quickly after losing Ron? Was she doing Ron's memory a disservice in that capacity? And what about Harry? How was he feeling about the sudden outburst of romantic emotions they were sharing? Hermione just couldn't shake the doubt that maybe there was something wrong with what she and Harry were doing. Hermione loved Harry with all her heart, she always had since the end of their first year at Hogwarts. Knowing Harry had survived that encounter with Quirrell and Voldemort awakened something in Hermione back then that had felt so wonderful: love.

She'd felt love and compassion for Harry ever since that moment, but had always been afraid to show it. Now, that came feeling had returned in its full form, but with it came an uncertainty. An uncertainty that had to be dealt with.

So, it was the resolution to confront that doubt that caused Hermione to set the ring down and walk back outside to talk to Harry, to settle everything in an intangible way. Hermione found Harry asleep in his chair and was momentarily convinced not to disturb him, but she gently prodded him awake after deciding otherwise. Harry awoke rather groggily and shook his head to clear it, which allowed Hermione time to reclaim her seat beside him.

"Hermione…" his voice reaffirmed his drowsiness. "What are you still doing up?"

"Obviously, I couldn't sleep."

"Why?" Harry looked Hermione over carefully, checking for any signs of trauma she may have received during the time since she had parted company with him. But all he saw were her wrinkly clothes, her necklace and her dreary expression.

"I have…tings on my mind. Things I can't shake." Hermione found that she was suddenly hesitant, so she started fidgeting with her hands. Harry took notice of her state, because when he spoke next, he sounded more alert.

"Are you still thinking about what happened today?"

Hermione looked back up into his eyes. "Sort of. But mainly, I was thinking about Ron." Hermione averted her gaze to the fire momentarily. "It's just…. I've dealt with the kind of people who killed Ron, faced them, fought them and yet…I'm no closer to understanding what could possibly motivate them to do such terrible things. I mean, how could a person live peacefully with themselves when they torture and murder for a living?"

Harry's face was overcome with deep sympathy. He waited a few moments before he said anything in response. "I had this case a while back. Ron and I'd been able to track this former Death Eater to his home somewhere in the country. He'd been very careless. Anyway, when we got there, he'd holed himself up inside the house and taken his family hostage. _His own family_. I did everything I could think of to get him out of there without risking the lives of the others. That's our training, you know? To not let innocent people get caught in the crossfire.

"But nothing I did worked. Eventually, we had to force our way in and by the time we got to them, the bastard had killed his wife and his six year-old daughter." At this, Hermione gasped and clasped her hands to her mouth. "Here was a guy so desperate, he'd sacrifice his own family to avoid jail. We took him into custody and were doing a sweep of the area when I came across his other kid; a boy, eight years old. There were bruises all over him, I mean he was barely white underneath all that black and blue. I remember, he looked me with this empty look in his eyes and I glanced over and saw him putting together this…castle out of building blocks. You know what he said? He asked me if he liked the castle that he built."

Hermione was unable to hold back tears at this point.

"Here was a boy who had been abused for so long, all he cared about was somebody telling him that he was doing something right; that he was doing a good job. When that little boy asked me that question, I was reminded of myself when I lived with the Dursleys. I was also shown firsthand the kind of evil bad people are capable of. I wanted to hit the father until he was just as bad off as his son. But did I? No, because then I'd be lowering myself to the level of a Death Eater. How are people like that able to live with themselves? I don't know, but I think I don't even want to know the answer."

Hermione reached out her hand and gently took Harry's. harry didn't gaze back up, but rather kept his eyes trained upon his knees.

"Tell me it's real," Hermione said at last, her voice cracking with emotion. Harry glanced up and finally met her yes again. "I mean us. Tell me this isn't just a confused response to Ron and Ginny dying. I need to know that what we're feeling isn't wrong."

As an answer, Harry pulled Hermione close and kissed her with all his might. When they broke away, Harry and Hermione bowed their foreheads against each other, reveling in their embrace. Hermione got up and sat down on Harry's lap, resting her head in the crook of his neck.

They sat like that for quite some time, not speaking and not moving. Slowly, the flickering flames of the fire began to die out, shrouding the two figures sitting in front of it in a half light that made Harry and Hermione appear statuesque. It was then that Hermione spoke again.

"We've got to find The Book, Harry. Otherwise, Ron and Ginny will have died for nothing."

"We will, Hermione. Tomorrow, I'm going to try and contact The Shadow, maybe set up a meeting."

"But how? Every time we got help from The Shadow, it was he who contacted us. We don't even know who he is."

"Well, we'll soon find out, won't we? And as for getting his attention, I'm sure we'll figure out a way."

Even though Harry sounded confident as he said that, he didn't feel that way deep down. He couldn't help but silently acknowledge Hermione's point. How _were_ they going to let The Shadow know that they had to meet with him?


	10. The Shadow

**A/N: **This chapter's one of the shorter ones, but I always try to make chapters as long as I feel they need to be. Also, thanks to all those who have reviewed this story so far!

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CHAPTER TEN

_**THE SHADOW**_

The answer to Harry and Hermione's question came at around midday the next day, a mere hour after the pair had woken up. At this particular time of day, the sun shone through the trees in such a way that it cast the forest in a shade of green that could almost be described as majestic. What alerted Harry and Hermione to the arrival of something else in the wooded area was the rustling of leaves and the snapping of twigs on the ground outside the tent. Harry and Hermione were putting away dishes from their meal when they heard it. Wands at the ready, they stepped outside, throwing their heads cautiously to the wind.

Nothing out of the ordinary was immediately noticeable, but that did nothing to quell Harry and Hermione's suspicions; experience had taught them never to allow themselves to be fooled by what might appear to be nothing. So, they started to carefully scan the trees, searching for any sign of another presence, but they needn't have bothered. What, or rather _who_ Harry and Hermione was looking for happened to be standing behind them. He ruffled the side of the tent in order to get their attention.

Harry and Hermione whirled around, prepared to strike, but the mysterious man's Shield Charm would have easily prevented any Stunning Spells from immobilizing him. This man was clad in robes of green that matched the scenery of the forest and had brown hair that was almost as dark as all the trunks. The stubbly outline of a mustache covered the skin over his upper lip and the color of his eyes matched that of his hair. He looked like a confident man.

"I assure you I mean you no harm." His voice furthered the notion of self-confidence.

Harry stared at this man inquiringly, as if looking at him really hard would tell him who he was. "You have a funny way of showing it. Normally, anyone who tries to sneak up on people never has good intentions."

"Well, I guess I'm the exception to that rule." There was a certain tone in this man's voice besides self-confidence, but Harry couldn't identify what it was exactly. "Here" He threw Harry his wand, and Harry caught it. "Consider it a gesture of my good faith. And it'll allow you to hear me out. The name's Clayton, and by now, I trust you know why I'm here."

"You work with The Shadow." The answer had only just occurred to Harry.

"Very, good, Harry. He told me you were intuitive."

Harry could only assume Clayton meant The Shadow by 'he'. "But how can I be sure that you in fact _do_ work with The Shadow?"

Clayton smiled roguishly, which enhanced his handsome features. "I'm afraid that in this instance, you're going to have to trust the word of a stranger, odd though it may seem."

"What, you don't have any proof?" Harry asked, partially accusatory.

"How could I prove I work for a man whose identity you don't know?"

"Okay," said Harry, thinking fast. "Try this: what did the most recent letter of his tell me to do?"

Clayton returned Harry's smug smile. "Easy; it told you where to find the actual William Donovan, and not an impostor. And if I'm correct, that location was where The Shadow told Donovan to wait for you."

Discrete methods of letter tampering could have allowed Clayton to know the first part, but there was no conceivable way any outsider could know the intentions of someone they've never met. They couldn't, obviously, so therefore Clayton _had_ to be in league with The Shadow.

"I don't suppose you're going to tell us _who _The Shadow is, right?" Hermione spoke the words, while Harry had thought them.

"He wants to tell you that and much more, but he'd rather do that in person. He sent me here to, shall we say, _escort_ you to the meeting place."

"And where is that?" Harry asked.

Clayton reached into his robes and withdrew what appeared to be a postcard. Indeed, when he offered the laminated photograph to Harry and Harry took it, he saw that it was a postcard containing a picture of Big Ben, the enormous clock that had become a staple of London tourism.

Harry looked back up at Clayton, slightly incredulous. "Are you serious? He wants to meet on Big Ben?"

"_In_ Big Ben, to be more precise. The Shadow would rather this meeting be kept as confidential as possible, so it'll be directly behind the clock face."

Harry glanced back down at the postcard. It was true, there was enough room behind the face of the gigantic clock for three people to hold a meeting, but it would require those people to be very strong-willed. Harry already knew he was more than willing to oblige to The Shadow's invitation and surmised that The Shadow himself would have no problem with it seeing as he'd picked the location, but he wasn't too sure about Hermione. Sure, she could summon up enough courage in risky situations when push came to shove, but he wasn't too certain about her position on heights. But then again, the inside of Big Ben wasn't too bad and as long as you didn't look down too far, you could keep your wits about yourself.

The expression he shot Hermione seemed to show his concern, because before Harry could say anything, she voiced her opinion. "I'll be fine, Harry. I'm not terrified of heights, if you're concerned about that. Plus, I'm not about to let you go to _another_ secret meeting without me."

Harry smirked. "Fair enough." He turned back to Clayton. "When and where is this going to happen?"

Clayton glanced down at his wristwatch. "Right now, as a matter of fact. So we need to get going. Now, if you could just…" he gestured at the tent, and Hermione made it vanish back into her handbag with a wave of her wand. Clayton stooped and scooped up the handbag, and then tossed it to its owner. "Nifty," he commented. "If you could be so kind." He pointed at his wand still in Harry's hand, and Harry tossed it back to him.

"Are we Apparating there?"

"No," said Clayton as he stepped closer. "The Shadow thought this would be an ideal time to test a new method of Portkeying. It's supposed to make the arrival a little more subtle and a little less jarring." He grabbed the postcard himself, firmly placing his thumb over the clock face of Big Ben. "Now, just put your own thumbs over mine."

Harry and Hermione did just that, and the effect was instantaneous. But rather than feeling the familiar jerking behind the navel, Harry instead had the sensation that he was relentlessly being pushed at high speed on a merry go-round. Harry felt his stomach begin to squirm uncomfortably inside his chest and just when he thought he'd be seeing what he had eaten a short while ago again, his feet touched solid earth. Harry swayed on the spot, and Hermione must have done the same thing because just when Harry had regained his balance, she fell into him. But luckily, he managed to stabilize her.

Once Hermione was back on her feet, Harry glanced up and saw the towering structure of Big Ben, connected to the equally lavish building known as The House of Parliament. Muggles dressed in varying casual attire walked to and fro about the street below the famous landmark, oblivious to the fact that three people had just appeared out of thin air. But Harry couldn't hold it against them, seeing as this was such a crowded and busy street, any small display of magic could go unnoticed without much trouble.

"Follow me," Clayton said formally as he tucked the postcard back into his pocket and headed for the base of the tower.

"Can't we just Apparate up there?" Hermione asked as she stared at enormous tower that stood resolute underneath the clear blue sky.

"Can't," Clayton replied brusquely. "We installed Anti-Apparition Charms on the tower, just in case any of the unscrupulous individuals we're working against found out about it. You can't Apparate into or out of it. However, we've come up with an alternative arrangement."

Clayton led Harry and Hermione into the street directly beside the tower, but more specifically approached the side of the stone foundation itself. Glancing furtively at the people around them, Clayton pulled out his wand and quickly drew a large square in midair, with lines that reached the pavement and shimmered in a bluish-white haze.

"Helps maintain the illusion," Clayton explained. He turned back to the base of the tower and tapped an open area of it four times with the tip of his wand. At first, Harry thought it didn't accomplish anything, but no sooner had he finished that thought than the stone wall began to gradually move to the left, opening up a hidden doorway. To this, Harry and Hermione gave each other astonished looks. "We made some modifications ever since settling on here as the site of today's meeting." Clayton didn't even have to look at Harry and Hermione to know what their faces showed. "Well, then, after you." Clayton stood aside to let Harry and Hermione step in first.

Once they did and the secret door had closed behind Clayton, they took note of their surroundings. But there was hardly anything to see, because almost everything was shrouded in darkness Harry and Hermione's eyes had yet to adjust to. Before they knew it, Harry and Hermione felt the floor beneath them ascend, climbing up to the top of this new shaft, where rays of light could be seen slowly becoming brighter. If stepping into a secret elevator located inside the tower of Big Ben amazed Harry and Hermione, the sight waiting for them at the top easily outclassed it.

First of all, there was more open space between the reverse side of the clock face and the large bell that chimed every hour. The smooth gray floor had three plush armchairs sitting on it, one of them already occupied by a black-clad figure that had a hood draped over his head. What was more, this person was facing a rather large, crackling fireplace engraved into the far brick wall. But…that wasn't right! Not possible, even! There was no sitting room like this in Big Ben, or a fireplace for that matter! Harry continued to be surprised until he reminded himself what sort of world he lived in. When dealing with wizardry, anything was possible. Clayton ushered Harry and Hermione forward, and eventually they fell into stride.

As they approached the armchairs, the two empty ones facing the currently occupied one, Harry glanced over to his right and saw a large assortment of working cogs; no doubt what was making the giant clock tick. Other than the roaring fire, the only other light came from that which was refracted from outside through the giant clock face, casting half of the small area in a whitish glow. It was with slight trepidation that Harry and Hermione took the empty seats.

Harry could see why this person chose to be called The Shadow, and it didn't take him that much effort to deduce it. If one were to pick one word and one word alone, to describe the figure staring into the fire, 'shadow' would most likely be it. And that wasn't only because the person was dressed entirely in black; it was because they _looked_ like a shadow. Harry and Hermione could hardly see any indication of skin beneath the black cloak.

"I ask that when I reveal my identity to you, you remain calm. There will be things you'll not fully understand at first, but it is imperative you hear me out."

The voice that issued from underneath the hood did indeed sound modified, as Donovan had said yesterday. It made Harry think of that deep voice Muggle cartoons used for their own mysterious villains in order to mask the identity of the speaker. Who could it possibly be if they thought it important to take such precautions? Harry soon found out.

He had to suppress a gasp as an all too familiar head of sleek blond hair came into view and a pale, pointed face stared back at Harry.

"_Malfoy?!_"

"Yes," replied Draco Malfoy in a calm voice.

Harry didn't need to look over at Hermione to know that she too had tensed in her seat with her mouth agape in shock. While Harry and Hermione were busy taking in Draco's unexpected appearance, Draco's wand emerged from the right arm of his robes. Out of reflex, Harry tightened his grip on his own, but Draco didn't try to hex Harry. On the contrary, he merely pointed his wand at his throat and muttered an incantation.

"_Tonario._"

Draco cleared his throat, and from that alone, the change in his voice was noticeable. When he next spoke, it was in his usual tone, although Harry took note of how the snide sound was missing from it.

"Like I said, I have to explain certain details to you so you can fully understand –…"

"What's going on here?" Harry demanded sharply.

"I'm about to get to that, Harry," Draco said, still calm. "Just allow me a few minutes to do so."

Harry was already caught in a storm of confusion. Not only did Draco seem vastly different from the snarky bully persona he'd molded himself into during their Hogwarts years, he'd also just addressed Harry by his first name. Draco had never done that. Ever. But, Harry thought, here _he_ was referring to Malfoy by _his_ first name.

"Is this some sort of trick?" asked Hermione, her eyes narrowed suspiciously.

"Everything is about to be explained, Hermione."

The use of her actual name instead of the dirty term 'Mudblood' surprised Hermione as much as it did Harry.

"_You're _The Shadow?" Harry said, still incredulous.

"Indeed I am," Draco responded. "And, if you'll indulge me, I'm going to tell you everything you need to know." He looked from Harry to Hermione and back again, waiting to see if they were going to interrupt him again. When they didn't and remained in their stunned silence, Draco pressed on. "I chose the codename The Shadow to mirror how I operate: hidden from view. And as you can guess, I'm now working _against_ my father.

"After the war had ended, I was unsure of myself. From the beginning of my sixth year until two years ago, I'd been manipulated like a puppet. After I failed to kill Dumbledore, my confidence in what I'd believed slowly slipped away. Once Voldemort was dead, however, my father seemed to regain his swagger and he vowed to continue dealings in the Dark Arts. Surviving the war really did change me, but nonetheless my father attempted to get me to join him. When I outright refused, he disowned me, but not before Mother managed to divorce him. The notion of pureblood supremacy that had been so arrogantly hammered into me suddenly seemed distasteful and after good people helped save me during the Battle of Hogwarts, it felt wrong to just revert back to my old lifestyle."

Harry was reminded of how he had narrowly saved Draco's life in the Room of Requirement during that penultimate fight, but he still didn't know what he should be feeling toward his old enemy at the moment.

"So, I decided that the best way to redeem myself officially would be to prove my new intentions. I did that by starting to discreetly spy on my father in order to find out about any dangerous things he may be up to."

Harry nodded. "And that's how you found out about The Book of Merlin."

"Yes. And eventually, not only did I find out about your failed rescue mission and your inquiries, but also about my father wanting to kidnap The Minister of Magic. He thought Donovan, who had infiltrated his ranks, told Kingsley Shacklebolt everything he'd found out, but the Head of your Department made sure that didn't happen."

"Did you know that they were going to kill Ginny and Ron?" Harry asked darkly.

A grave, almost sad expression came across Malfoy's face. "Unfortunately, no. Apparently, my father devised those plans away from my sources of eavesdropping. I just warned you of what I knew: that an impostor disguised as Donovan had been planted to try and kill you and that I'd been able to get the real Donovan to talk to you." Draco paused momentarily to let this sink in. "So I take it you two have taken up the quest to find The Book of Merlin?"

"Why would you need to know that?" Hermione inquired, a sharp edge to her voice.

"Because I'm in the same position you are."

"Oh, really?" said Harry, straightening his posture. "Has your father murdered someone close to you as part of his plan?"

Draco shifted his gaze toward the flames of the fire, their orange glow reflected in his suddenly glazed-over eyes. "Yes." When he spoke again after another pause, his voice sounded cracked. "He killed my mother."

Whatever Harry had been expecting him to say, it hadn't been that. The words took him by surprise as much as a giant mallet would if it had come out of nowhere and started pounding him on the head. Harry looked over at Hermione as Draco continued to stare blankly into the fire. Both their expressions were the same: uncertain of what to make of Draco's personal tragedy, therefore conflicted about what to say. They had spent seven years adamantly opposing Draco Malfoy and in the course of about ten to fifteen minutes, Harry and Hermione had been asked to not only begin to trust their old enemy, but feel sympathy for him over his losing a parent. Harry and Hermione had to admit, though, that having one parent kill the other just to make their child stay loyal to them was grounds enough for turning over a new leaf. But that still didn't change the fact that Draco would have to prove to Harry and Hermione that he was indeed a new man.

"It's okay," said Draco, breaking the uncomfortable silence, "I don't expect you to show any remorse over that. After all, why would you? My family treated the two of you horribly, so you still have reason to be doubtful of me."

"It's just…" Hermione began, clearly searching for the right words, "…you must look at more things from our point of view. Yes, you did help us where William Donovan was concerned, but how are we to know that you did that of your own accord?"

"I'm more than willing to subject myself to a dose of Veritaserum, if that'll satisfy you. But I promise you that I will do everything in my power to bring my father to justice. I'm above petty jealousy and arguments now. I _want_ to be a new person."

Unbeknownst to Draco, Hermione or Clayton, Harry had secretly pulled his wand back out and aimed it at Draco, casting the same charm over him that he had used on the others in Marcus's office. Just like them, the charm forced Draco to tell nothing but the truth about whatever he was now asked. Harry much rather preferred these Truth Charms over Veritaserum for precisely this reason; it saved the trouble of having to force feed an unwilling participant the potion.

"And you're not lying about your mother?" Harry asked. "She really was killed by Lucius?"

"_Yes_," Draco emphasized once again. "I regret I couldn't stop him before then. Then maybe, just maybe, Mother would still be alive."

"So I take it you're proposing an alliance?" asked Hermione.

"If you're willing, yes," Draco nodded. "But I believe it'll benefit you greatly. After all, I have access to some incredible resources."

"More helpful than the Auror Department?" Harry couldn't help but keep the slight twinge of doubt out of his voice.

Draco gave him an even look. "Unless you're planning to involve anyone beyond Mr. McGregor and Miss Flynn."

"Have you been _spying _on us?" Hermione asked, sounding affronted.

"How else would I have known where to send my owl?"

"How were you doing it?" Hermione persisted.

"I'd rather not say," Draco replied evasively. "It might just get you angry with me. But that's not the point right now. What matters is whether or not you agree to my suggestion. Do you?"

Harry placed his hand over his mouth, deep in thought. Finally, after what seemed like an eternity, he removed it. "How do you expect us to feel? How do you expect us to react to you asking us to help you when we've spent seven years hating each other? What, we're just supposed to forget everything you've done to us?"

"I wouldn't expect you to forget all that," said Draco simply. "But I know for a fact that all of us need each other."

"How do you figure that?"

"Like I said, I have resources at my disposal that can help you find The Book of Merlin faster. All the work is pretty much half done already, so if you agree, you'll be saving yourself a lot of trouble." Draco studied Harry and Hermione closely. "If you're feelings toward me still haven't changed, fine. But keep in mind I saved your life two days ago. Is that the mark of an untrustworthy person, or one who still feels animosity, even?"

He had a point there. Draco could've just as easily left Harry and Hermione, who had hated him for seven years, to die at the hands of Dark Wizards, yet he had chosen to save their lives. It was then that another thought occurred to Harry.

"Who says you're not just trying to use us to accomplish your own ends?"

"I assure you that my aim is to find The Book, possibly destroy it, and lock my father up in a cell in Azkaban for good."

One trick Harry had learned during his time dealing with tricky situations such as this one was to read the eyes of the person trying to convince you of something. Sure, being a wizard had the advantages of Veritaserum and all that, but a person's eyes could tell everything you need to know just as easily. So, with that in mind, Harry focused on Draco's eyes, which had once been filled with extreme malice but were now clearly radiating what Harry was looking for: honesty.

Harry shared a look with Hermione that conveyed his new state of mind, and she nodded in understanding.

"Okay, Malfoy," said Harry, almost hesitantly, "Hermione and I will join you. But we still feel like we're going to need some assurances of your newfound nobility. And preferably, we'd like to see them firsthand."

Draco visibly perked up. "As it so happens, you might just get that chance soon. Right now, Clayton and I are running a little operation we hope can get us my father _and_ a way to get to The Book. If you're willing, your help as well as that of your Auror friends, would greatly be appreciated."

"What would we have to do?" Hermione asked, the tone of curiosity from her Hogwarts years seeping into her voice.

A slight smirk moved the corner of Draco's mouth upward. "Help me kidnap my father."


	11. Disguises & Deception

CHAPTER ELEVEN

_**DISGUISES & DECEPTION**_

Ten minutes had passed, during which time Draco had divulged the full details of his plan which he wanted Harry and Hermione to be a part of. When he finished, Draco got up from his chair and said he needed to check with Clayton that the coast was clear for them to depart from their secret hiding place. This left Harry and Hermione alone once Draco and Clayton had rode the hidden lift down the clock tower; they were able to talk freely now. Hermione turned to Harry.

"What do you think?" she said in a tone lacking expression.

Harry had his elbow situated on the arm of his chair and was stroking his chin thoughtfully. "I don't know what to think," he said at last, lowering his hand. "After all, this _is_ still Draco Malfoy we're talking about. For me to fully believe he's come over to our side, it'll take a lot more than just his word."

Hermione's eyes traveled over to where the concealed lift was located. "I don't know either, Harry. But he seemed _genuine_. I mean, who would lie about their mother being murdered like that?"

"True," Harry conceded. "I read his eyes and there wasn't any indication that he may have been lying. But that still doesn't rule out the possibility of Malfoy learning Legilimency."

This caused Hermione to give Harry a look somewhere between one reserved for people who lacked common sense and one used for people who just made a tragic error. "No offense, Harry, but you've never been particularly skilled at Occlumency and even if you were, you'd have no way of penetrating Malfoy's defenses if he _could_ do either Occlumency or Legilimency."

"You're right," Harry shrugged. He got up and walked over to stand behind the clock face. "But I can't help having my doubts."

"It's understandable. But right now, Draco Malfoy is our only chance of getting any closer to The Book of Merlin. He's right; we can't hope to do this alone. We need all the help we can get."

Harry inserted his hands into both of his pockets and felt the tips of his fingers graze over something. Curious, he grabbed whatever it was and pulled it out. When Harry's eyes reflected the ethereal white glow of the memory vial, his heart sank. It was the vial he had taken off of Ginny's dead body, the one he could only assume she meant him to have. Harry had no idea what the memory contained, only that he should view it the first chance he got.

The question Hermione posed to Harry next made him remember that he had yet to inform her of the memory. "What is that?" Hermione lifted herself from her chair and came to stand in front of Harry.

"I found it on Ginny when…" He trailed off, the rest of that sentence still being too painful to say aloud. Harry handed the vial to Hermione, who took it as if afraid that too much pressure would shatter the glass.

"You don't think this is of…of what happened, do you?" Hermione asked in a hushed tone, despite the fact that the two of them were alone. She looked up at Harry with a most peculiar expression.

"If it is, I'm not in any hurry to see it," Harry said in a hollow voice as he reclaimed the vial and stowed it away back in his pocket. "I feel responsible enough as it is."

"How could you say that? It _wasn't_ your fault."

"It was. I should've been there; I should've protected her myself. I protected her for two years, and then I just…failed. I've always strived to keep those close to me out of harm's way, but I guess I couldn't save everybody."

Hermione didn't know what to say to this. Her mind raced through many different forms of consolation she could express through words, but none of them seemed to carry enough weight. Instead, she gently placed her hand on Harry's cheek and pushed his face up so that she could let her eyes provide all the necessary comfort. Harry slipped his hand over Hermione's and retracted it, but never let go.

Just as Harry read Draco's eyes minutes ago, he could now read Hermione's. Every word of reassurance Hermione could have possibly offered seemed to chase each other across her eyes, and it was more than enough for Harry. With the faintest hint of a thankful smile, he squeezed Hermione's hand gratefully. They stood that way until the concealed door in the far wall opened once more and Draco walked back in alone. Harry and Hermione immediately dropped their hands to their sides.

"We're going now," Draco informed them.

"And where exactly are we going?" Harry asked as he and Hermione made their way back to the lift alongside Draco.

"My safehouse," Draco answered. "Everything's already set up over there. Oh, I almost forgot…" Before he entered the lift, Draco turned around and lifted his wand. In one sweeping motion, the plush armchairs and the fireplace that had filled the expanded area floated into the air, shrunk, and zoomed back into the tip of Draco's wand. The space behind the clock face now looked as it normally did: utterly unremarkable, save for the moving cogs of the clock.

With that done, Draco joined Harry and Hermione inside the lift and moments later, all three of them were stepping outside and through the shimmering barrier that obscured the secret entrance from view. Clayton did away with the barrier and accompanied them into a narrow alleyway that put them well out of sight.

"If you would," said Draco, offering Harry his arm.

Harry needed no further instruction; he took Hermione's arm before grabbing Draco's and the all too familiar sensation of being squeezed through a narrow tube overtook him. Once the feeling desisted and Harry found himself in front of a row of houses on a city street, he wished Draco could have just told them where to Apparate to.

Harry glanced over at Hermione and noticed that she too appeared to be thinking what he was: _this_ was Malfoy's safehouse? From what Harry could tell, it was just a completely ordinary house, out in the open and uncomfortably susceptible to attack if it was ever compromised.

But before Harry could say anything to Draco about this, Draco stepped over to a nearby fire hydrant and pulled his wand back out. Harry looked left and right, convinced that whatever Draco was about to do would attract unwanted attention, but to his immense relief, the street seemed completely devoid of any wandering Muggles.

"I know what you're thinking," said Clayton, noticing Harry's expression, "but you mustn't worry. Even if there _were_ any Muggles lurking about, they wouldn't notice a thing. You'd be surprised how many Anti-Muggle Charms there are in London."

"Actually, I wouldn't," Harry replied confidently. "I'm an Auror, so I know all about these types of security measures."

Draco, meanwhile, had tapped the top of the fire hydrant three times with his wand and was now standing back expectantly. Harry was able to guess what was going to happen seconds before it actually did: the hydrant slowly started to sink into the pavement of the sidewalk until it eventually became entirely obscured from sight. But it didn't end there. Once the hydrant had vanished, the gutter beneath the sidewalk in front of Harry and Hermione expanded downward. The moment the street had stopped descending, Harry had a view of a narrow set of stairs that led down into the sewer. He could just sense the awaiting grime and water.

"Follow me," Draco said as he headed straight down into the sewer without a backward glance. Clayton followed right on his heels, leaving Harry and Hermione alone in the street, exchanging expressions of disbelief and slight revulsion.

Harry stepped to the side and gestured with his right arm. "After you."

Hermione gave him a playfully annoyed look before she exhaled and began to descend the underground stairs, with Harry directly behind her.

A few steps down, the only light came from the grates which offered views of sparkling greenish water that flowed through the sewage system; the sunlight from above had quickly dissipated into the darkness. Accompanying the green glow was a most foul stench comparable to a combination of rotten eggs and sour milk; it made Harry wonder exactly what Muggles did away with that would cause such a strong odor. Out of instinct, he moved closer to Hermione right before they reached level ground.

Here was where the dim surroundings were cut short. Not more than two feet away was a rather large entryway to a room glowing brilliantly, a stark contrast with the area where Harry and Hermione currently stood and which caused them to squint their eyes before they became adjusted to the change. A mere five seconds later, Harry and Hermione were standing inside a room neither of them had expected to find underneath the streets of London.

Much like the low levels of the Ministry of Magic, the walls of this appropriately-sized room had windows which peeked into a sunlit sky and city skyline, despite the fact that they were most definitely miles below London. Overhead hung a chandelier that was rather low, but given the location, the narrow space wasn't surprising in the slightest. The rest of the room's contents included desks, chairs, a rectangular center table and a wall-sized map of London. Draco and Clayton were walking across the stone floor toward the center table, where two other people (a man and woman who looked to be in their 30's) sat with a briefcase on the table in front of them.

"May I introduce Reginald Munson and Georgina Dawes? They're Recoverables for The Magical Artifact Recovery Office."

Harry stared quizzically at Draco. "Recoverables? Never heard of them."

"And you never will," said Munson, who had a deep edge to his voice, which seemed to complement his thin sandy goatee. "Recoverables are witches and wizards who are given the task of traveling the world, searching for various historically significant magical artifacts that could potentially be used for, shall we say, sinister purposes."

"It's the same idea as Unspeakables, who are forbidden to say anything about their work," Dawes spoke up. "The Ministry enjoys those terms to describe their workers."

"Reginald and Georgina were recently approached by my father for a business transaction," Draco informed Harry and Hermione. "One of their recent journeys led to them recovering two items of interest: a map and an emerald triangle. What makes that so significant is the fact that when combined, they give the exact location of The Book of Merlin."

"How?" asked Hermione, stepping closer to the table.

In response, Munson undid the clasps of the briefcase, lifted the top and twirled it around so that the contents were visible to everyone else. The inside was completely barren, an unremarkable surface of dark brown, save for a five-sided emerald green triangle. Despite the triangle being out of the reach of the light, it was nonetheless aglow with a green sparkle, which was coming from inside the artifact, a dazzling heart reflected in the eyes of all those present.

"We don't know what the technical term for it is," said Dawes. "We just call it The Triangle of Truth, because it points the way, no matter what."

"It was supposedly designed by Merlin himself," added Munson.

"Which explains why Lucius Malfoy would be so eager to get his hands on it," said Harry, his eyes never straying from the triangle.

"Not to mention the fact that it saves anyone the trouble of searching for The Book manually," piped up Hermione. "Because I'm assuming that there's some sort of enchantment over this triangle that allows it to point out The Book's location, just like you said."

"Yes," conceded Munson. "But that's only when it's combined with the map."

"And you have the map, right?" asked Harry, his tone expectant.

"Well," Dawes began rather tentatively, "yes and no. There _was_ a map buried with this, but it's a decoy." She reached into her jeans pocket and withdrew a folded up, weathered piece of parchment that looked to be on the verge of falling apart. When Dawes carefully unfolded it, an ink-drawn picture presented itself, one showing a vast expanse of what was clearly supposed to be a mountain-strewn land. However, not three seconds later, the hand drawn image changed of its own accord, as if an invisible hand had wiped it clean and a different, broader representation of country land filled the blank parchment. The same thing happened within the same amount of time as before.

"Clearly, whenever we try to use The Triangle to ascertain The Book's location, the map changes form and area before we can." Dawes placed the decoy map on the table beside the briefcase.

"Okay, here's the next obvious question," said Harry as the map changed yet again. "Where's the real map? And what's more, who has it?"

"That's what we're working on," replied Draco as he reached out and scooped up the glowing triangle. He held it up close to his face, which bathed his pale skin in a sea of emerald. "In the meantime, we can use this to lure my father into our grasp and find out what he knows, but preferably who he's working for. And that's where you two come in," he added to Harry and Hermione. Draco replaced the Triangle and walked over to a sturdy-looking wooden desk where a cauldron was currently simmering with a potion while pungent smoke was being expelled upward.

"Polyjuice Potion," stated Hermione after having examined the potion and recognizing the thick substance.

"So Hermione and I are going to be impersonating these two, then?" inquired Harry, indicating Munson and Dawes.

"Of course," said Draco. "After all, my father approached them to make the deal, but Clayton in turn alerted them to my father's intentions. After that, Clayton brought Munson and Dawes to me, and that's when I came up with this plan. All you and Hermione have to do is string my father along long enough, and then make your move."

"And how are we supposed to that?" asked Harry.

"But more importantly, what assurances do Harry and I have of our safety?" Hermione added.

"First, I took the liberty of sending an owl to your Auror friends Ian McGregor and Ann Flynn. They'll be safely stationed outside the perimeter of Malfoy Manor, where the deal is set to go down. This leads me to your next question." Draco gestured over at Clayton, who extracted a pair of silver bracelets from his pocket. He tossed them over to Draco, who caught both in one hand. "You'll be wearing these bracelets, which are identical to two being worn by Munson and Dawes. I've enchanted them to give Clayton you're constant location. If a dangerous situation should come up, they'll subtly turn gold, and simultaneously send a message back here to Clayton, who's wearing one as well. The bracelets detect elevated stress levels in your blood pressure."

"I'm impressed," Hermione admitted as she examined the bracelet.

"I knew you would be," smirked Draco. He glanced down at his wristwatch. "The deal happens in an hour. And just to make sure nothing happens while the deal is in progress, I'll be with you by means of an Invisibility Cloak. It'll also ensure that we overpower my father more easily." Draco took two empty cups from the desk and carefully dipped them into the cauldron full of Polyjuice Potion. Polyjuice Potion is reputed to reflect the people whom it's being used to impersonate; in this case, the liquid was thick, but only in the sense that Munson and Dawes had developed a thick skin or something. When Draco's hands emerged from the cauldron with two servings of Polyjuice Potion, the air had now become replete with the potion's strong odor.

"We have sets of clothes identical to the ones Munson and Dawes are wearing now," said Draco after he had handed over the cups. "They should fit once you've transformed." He then pointed out a closed door on the opposite side of the room, obviously the area reserved for when Harry and Hermione would have to change. An awkward silence followed in which neither Harry nor Hermione touched the cups of Polyjuice Potion to their lips.

"Look," said Draco when he couldn't take the silence any longer, "I know I don't have any business saying this to you given our history, and I don't expect you to believe me, but here it is: trust me. I know what I'm doing."

Harry glanced from the cup in his hand, then back to Draco, the cogs in his mind working madly. He stole a glance at Hermione, whose eyes seemed to mirror his emotions. Draco had given them no reason to doubt him thus far, so they owed it to him to trust his judgment.

"Fine," Harry said. "If you get us through this, then we'll begin to trust you…_Draco_."

It was the first time Harry called Malfoy by his first name, so its effect wasn't lost on either him or Hermione, who looked at Harry with a mixture of surprise and admiration.

Without another word spoken between them, Harry and Hermione parted company from Draco and entered the private room. Inside, they found a setup similar to Dressing Rooms in Muggle shops, with private enclosed areas where Harry and Hermione could change into the attire that awaited them on hooks positioned on the doors of the stalls. Harry and Hermione each stared down at the potion in their hands.

"Cheers," said Harry, raising his glass; Hermione clinked hers against his before they both gulped down the Polyjuice Potion, which they could only assume already had the hairs of the people they were changing into already mixed in.

After gulping in air for a little while after finishing the potion, Harry and Hermione could start to feel the effects of the potion take control. The skin of their bodies that was visible began to bubble up in the fashion of water boiling on a stove, but subsided just as quickly. Harry lifted his hand to his chin and could immediately feel the goatee the real Munson had on his face. He turned to look at Hermione, who now had the flowing brown hair and bright blue eyes of Georgina Dawes.

"How do I look?" asked Hermione, who now spoke in Dawes's throaty tone.

"You're more beautiful the other way around," Harry smirked, which elicited a wide smile from Hermione.

Harry looked down at his appearance, and indeed, his clothes were too small for Munson's form. He and Hermione proceeded to the two stalls and promptly changed into the clothes Draco had prepared for them. Once they were finished, Harry and Hermione surveyed their new states in mirrors on the wall, and could tell they could easily pass for Reginald Munson and Georgina Dawes.

They reentered the main room of Draco's hideout, where they then placed the bracelets on their wrists. Meanwhile, Draco pulled an Invisibility Cloak from a trunk underneath a desk. Clayton occupied himself with monitoring the wall-sized map of London, where two hovering ink blots had now appeared in the exact spot Harry and Hermione now stood. Harry was instantly reminded of The Marauder's Map upon seeing this.

"Now," said Draco rather suddenly, causing Harry to jump slightly, "my father will have lifted any security measures around the house for the day, which will allow us to Apparate there. I'm going to slip in behind you and stand in the corner." He handed Harry the briefcase containing The Triangle. "The plan is to strike the moment my father tries to take this. I'll handle any guards he may have, leaving you him directly."

"Alright," Harry responded as he and Hermione pocketed their wands in a reachable space. Draco slipped his Invisibility Cloak over his head, disappearing beneath it the moment he did. Seconds later, Harry felt something brush up against him and a voice whispered in his ear.

"Hang on."

Harry and Hermione turned on the spot and felt the sensation of Apparition overtake them. When they reopened their eyes, they found themselves standing at the bottom of the stairway leading to the main entrance of Malfoy Manor. Twisting their bracelets around their wrists for good measure, Harry and Hermione ascended the steps. But apparently their presence was already known, because before Harry could reach out with his large aged hand and knock on the door, it opened by itself, presenting a clear view of a thuggish-looking man whose expression made it appear he was smelling something foul.

Instead of saying actual words, Malfoy's crony merely stepped aside to allow Harry and Hermione safe passage inside. Harry felt a rippling in the air beside him that told him Draco was indeed as agile as he claimed to be. The henchman guided them through the all too familiar tapestries of Malfoy Manor, past the lavishly yet gloomily decorated walls as they did so. Finally, they came to the main sitting room; the same sitting room, Harry remembered with a pang, where Bellatrix Lestrange had tortured Hermione nearly to death two years ago. Harry looked over at Hermione, who had an expression of blankness etched across her face, but it was different on the face of Georgina Dawes. Quickly, Harry slipped his hand into Hermione's and gave it a reassuring squeeze.

The sitting room was just as Harry remembered it, though the damage he and Hermione had caused with Ron had long since been repaired. A fire roared in the fireplace, casting the darkened room in a shimmering orange light that flickered ominously off the calm, hardened face of Lucius Malfoy, who was currently occupying a high-backed chair right beside the fireplace. Malfoy inclined his head toward the disguised Harry and Hermione and smirked smugly.

"Well, I'm pleased to see punctuality is a high value with the two of you."

Harry let his eyes take in the parts of the sitting room that had evaded his attention on first glance, and noticed a pair of equally proportioned goons standing guard on either side of the lefthand window. When Harry looked back at Malfoy, he noticed that a small table and two makeshift chairs had appeared in the vicinity of Malfoy's. Without being told what to do, Harry and Hermione took the empty chairs while Harry placed the briefcase upon the table.

"The funds we discussed will be waiting for you the moment you walk out my door," said Malfoy as he leaned closer to the briefcase. "That's my end of the bargain, what about yours?"

Plenty of experience had taught Harry how to behave in situations like this, so he wisely remained quiet as he swiftly undid the clasps on the briefcase and spun it so that the glowing green object inside was reflected in Malfoy's expectant eyes. As Malfoy slowly reached out and lifted The Triangle, Harry kept his eyes trained upon him as he surreptitiously slipped his wand out, leveling it steadily behind the open top of the briefcase.

If Malfoy's men noticed this, they certainly didn't do anything about it. Harry was sure his action would have been visible to the henchmen, but rather than having their obscured faces trained on Harry, they were instead trained on their employer. Hermione, meanwhile, had her hand in her pants pocket, clearly clutched over the handle of her own wand. If Harry had to pick the perfect moment to strike, this was it.

Using the tip of his wand, Harry pushed down the top of the briefcase forcefully enough so that it would catch Malfoy's attention, which it did.

"I'll take that back if it's not too much trouble," Harry said smoothly.

Malfoy looked at the wand with a most confused expression. But that look quickly evaporated. "Had a change of heart, or have you just grown a spine?"

"_Accio Triangle!_" whispered Hermione, her wand now out. The Triangle zoomed out of Malfoy's grasp and into Hermione's waiting hand.

Malfoy made to draw his wand, but Harry was too quick for him.

"Don't! Let's not go through this routine again, Malfoy. It's becoming monotonous."

Malfoy grudgingly lowered his wand while he stared keenly into Harry's eyes. Perhaps he was able to see through the disguise. The next words Malfoy uttered confirmed this.

"Potter? Is that you?" He sounded thoroughly amused, as if this was some sort of high-stakes chess game he and Harry were playing. "We _must_ stop meeting like this."

Just then, the double doors of the sitting room burst open and three muscular men swarmed inside, wands at the ready. But before any of them could do anything, though, a mass of red light paralyzed each and every one of them where they stood. This was followed by successive loud _thumps_ as the henchmen toppled over onto the floor.

Harry and Hermione by now had gotten to their feet, but Harry's attention was focused on the two shadowy figures standing by the window. At last, the figures stepped into the light, and the hard faces of Ian and Ann appeared.

Ann glanced toward Harry. "That look rather suits you, Harry." She winked at him. Evidently, they'd been privy to the fact that Harry and Hermione had donned these disguises. With the entire backup now out of commission, Ian and Ann trained their wands upon Malfoy.

"You should _really_ pay more attention to who you let in your home," Ian said to Malfoy.

Malfoy was still staring intently at Harry. "Munson and Dawes came to you?"

"Actually," came a powerful voice from the far corner of the room, "they came to _me_." Draco literally appeared out of thin air, his face set and his wand steady.

Malfoy Senior was looking at his son with the kind of hatred one would normally reserve for a lifelong enemy. If Lucius Malfoy ever felt any compassion toward his son, there was no indication of it at the moment. When Lucius Malfoy spoke, it was with suppressed rage.

"I find it surprising that you can stand in this house so confidently, as if you've done nothing wrong."

"Like not wanting to kill innocent people? Wanting to try and start over, build a respectable life?"

"I would have never believed that my own son would sink so low."

"I could say the same thing about you."

The air in the room crackled with tension, and everybody who didn't share the Malfoy family name feared that a bolt of lightning would appear between Lucius and Draco and zap one of them.

"Enough," spat Lucius, and he swung his wand up from its hiding place in a motion so fast, it was as if it didn't even happen. But Draco was expecting this.

"_Expelliarmus!_"

Lucius's wand flew from his grasp and landed at Ann's feet, who picked it up. Lucius seemed to recognize defeat, because he raised his hands in surrender, but with a sour expression.

"_Consciuso!_"

A colorless light emanated from Draco's wand and wrapped itself around Lucius's blond head. It didn't take long for the spell to take effect, because Lucius's eyes rolled into the back of his head and he slumped to the ground, unconscious not too long after.

Nobody said a word as they went about securing Lucius's unconscious form, already preparing for the next phase of Draco's plan.


	12. Interrupted Interrogation

**A/N: Sorry for such the long wait, but things got in the way. Anyway, here's the next chapter.**

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CHAPTER TWELVE

_**INTERRUPTED INTERROGATION**_

"Barnes is becoming suspicious of your absence, Harry," said Ann. "He's starting to ask questions, and they're the kinds that have difficult answers."

"Does he know anything?" asked Harry, anxious to hear the response.

"No," answered Ian. "But he's already dropped some less than subtle hints that if you're operating outside Ministry protocol and anyone in the Auror Office are aware of it, then those people could be in danger of losing their job."

Harry's heart seemed to sink a few inches inside his chest. He had been aware from the start that entrusting Ian and Ann with the details of his secret mission with Hermione would entail quite a bit of scrutiny from Barnes, but he never would thought Barnes would take such a radical step involving the threat of unemployment. If Ian and Ann, two people whom Harry trusted just as much as any of his Hogwarts friends, were relinquished of their Auror duties because of their friendship with Harry, Harry couldn't imagine the guilt he would feel.

Harry and Hermione stood facing Ian and Ann in a corner of a vast but abandoned warehouse on the outskirts of the city. Rather than returning to Draco's hideout underneath the streets, they had deemed it smart to use a different location to conduct their interrogation of Lucius Malfoy. This way, if anything should happen, the risk of Malfoy recognizing any of his surroundings and using that knowledge to mount an attack could be avoided. Indeed, the interior of the warehouse lacked any discernible or memorable features. Add on to that the fact that most of the inside was shrouded in shadow due to concentrated beams of light flaring down from circular overhead lamps, and you could tell it was the appropriate setting for something such as an interrogation.

"Has he approached either of you two?" Hermione inquired when Harry's thoughts prevented him from saying the question himself.

"Not yet," replied Ann. "But it's only a matter of time."

Harry shook his head to come out of his reverie. "Listen, if you two don't want to continue helping…"

"Don't be absurd," Ann cut in before Harry could finish. "We've never made a promise to you we haven't kept, and we're not about to start now."

"Yeah," Ian added. "You asked for our help, and you're going to get it, no matter what."

Harry couldn't even begin to express his gratitude, but he didn't have to, because the voice of Draco called out to them from the middle of the room, where Lucius Malfoy sat tightly secured to a chair by means of chains wrapped around his arms and legs; he was still unconscious.

"Harry, we're ready."

Harry nodded and led the others toward the center of the room. Ian and Ann took positions on either side of Lucius Malfoy, partially hidden from the light. Draco and Clayton stood on his right whilst Harry and Hermione opted for the space directly in front of him. Harry leaned against a desk with his wand in hand, his face set. Hermione had taken a chair and sat determinedly in it, her own face showing a resolution that said she was content with any methods of coercion Harry would have to perform.

Harry leaned forward and extended his wand as a light green mist sprung forth from the tip and floated hazily over to where Malfoy's head hung limply. The mist swept up into Malfoy's nostrils and not five seconds later, he was coughing and shaking his head to clear it of the cobwebs that had accompanied his state of unconsciousness. When Malfoy lifted his head to see where he was, his eyes traveled inquiringly from one person to the next, until they finally settled on Harry and Hermione.

"I wouldn't be surprised if you were feeling confused right about now," Harry said by way of greeting.

"That was you inside my house, pretending to be the sellers." It wasn't an inquiry; it was solid fact.

"You forget how efficient Aurors can be," Harry responded. "Now, you're going to tell us everything you can about who you might be working for."

Malfoy managed a smile that looked amused. "No. No, we're never going to get that far."

"I want to know why you were hired to find The Book of Merlin, the names of the people who hired you and where I can find them." Harry pressed on with the interrogation as if he hadn't heard what Malfoy just said. "It's up to you how this can all go."

"I think you've got that the other way around," said Malfoy, his smug tone already starting to creep back into his voice. He glanced down at his bonds, which were faintly glowing periwinkle blue. "If you let me go right now, we can pretend as if this whole thing never happened. Because the way I see it, you don't have that much time before the tables turn."

Harry stared at Malfoy for the briefest of seconds, hiding his state of bewilderment at the fact that Lucius Malfoy could act so calm and controlled, given his current predicament. "Who hired you?" Harry asked the question as bluntly as he could.

"What do you hope to get out of me?" asked Malfoy in a challenging voice. "Do you expect me to just tell you everything? If you do, Potter, then you're sorely mistaken. You may think you have a grip on everything that's happening, but you don't. You have no idea what the hell's going on here."

Harry furtively glanced over at Draco, who was staring at his father with great disdain. Harry then refocused on Lucius. "Well, why don't you enlighten us?"

Malfoy straightened his posture as best he could, clearly in a state of amusement. "I have no intention of cooperating, so that only leaves you with one option. The Cruciatus Curse." Malfoy narrowed his eyes. "But it's all just a question of if you're willing to do it. I know you by now, Potter. On the outside, you may appear to be someone who's in complete control, but deep down, past your messy hair and glasses, it's a mess of emotions. Fear, uncertainty, remorse. Tell me, which one of those wins out the most?"

When Harry chose to simply gaze at Malfoy evenly while breathing hard, Malfoy seemed to grow more confident.

"Does it depress you? To know that at the end of the day, when everything's said and done, all you are is just a lonely man trying to find comfort in acting the hero? I know the truth. You may think you're a righteous savior, but the truth is you're no different from the thieves and murderers you hunt. But now there's blood in the water, and before you know it, the sharks will be descending. I mean, what with all the friends and family you've lost so far in life, you must be starting to feel not only really bad about yourself, but angry that you've brought them all into the court. And in this game, there are no rules. You saw what I had happen with that little blood traitor girlfriend of yours."

At these words, Harry's blood began to boil with hatred. Everyone around him was staring at him with uncertainty in their eyes, anticipating the outburst they knew to be inevitable.

"Who's to say the same thing won't happen to your Mudblood friend?" Malfoy gestured roughly with his head toward Hermione. "This time, I'll personally see to it. And I promise you it'll be slow and painful."

It was as if a fuse had blown inside Harry's head. With a sudden jolt of anger, he jumped up from the desk and raised his wand, blood pounding in his head.

"_CRUCIO!_"

Unforgivable Curses require the caster to truly mean them, and the blind and blaring hatred coursing through Harry at the moment more than sufficed for his casting of the Torture Curse. Harry didn't care about the law that forbade the use of these curses unless the caster wanted a one-way ticket to Azkaban. All he cared about right now was causing Lucius Malfoy as much pain as possible, the consequences be damned.

The air that had previously been filled with a deadly silence mixed with trepidation now echoed with the screams and grunts of Lucius Malfoy as the Cruciatus Curse attacked his body. Harry, despite himself, took savage pleasure in prolonging Malfoy's pain and hearing him attempt to muffle his outcries. When at last Harry relinquished the pain of the curse, he found that Lucius Malfoy wasn't the only one attempting to catch his breath.

"Who hired you to find The Book?" Harry asked sharply, the adrenaline from casting the Cruciatus Curse giving a more pronounced edge to his voice. "Give me a name! _Crucio!_"

Harry wouldn't have been surprised if his rage shocked anybody in the room with him, except Hermione. She at least had witnessed firsthand just how disconsolate he could become when confronted with a situation such as this, where such means were impossible to dodge. So it was with concerned eyes, rather than shocked ones, Hermione stared at Harry. Reaching out with a gentle but firm hand, Hermione grasped Harry's wand arm.

"Harry, stop. This isn't you."

Obediently, or perhaps reluctantly, Harry lifted the curse and let his arm dangle.

In the relatively uncomfortable silence that followed, everyone kept their eyes averted to the ground. The only sound that punctured the still air was the heavy breathing of Lucius Malfoy as he attempted to recompose himself. Once his breathing had slowed, Malfoy looked back up at Harry and Hermione, both of whom were staring intently at him.

"Finding out who I'm working for," he said, the confidence slowly ebbing back into his voice, "is the last thing you should be concerned about."

From the shadows stepped Draco, whose wand was clutched in a death grip at his side.

"Let me have a go," he snarled.

"It's clear the Cruc--…"

"I'm not going to use the Cruciatus Curse," Draco said, cutting Harry off. "There are other ways to extract information." Draco stepped closer so that he and his father were mere inches apart. In a move that was seemingly invisible to the naked eye, Draco's wand was leveled between Lucius's eyes, and Draco shouted out the incantation.

"_Legillimens!_"

To Harry and the others, it appeared as if Draco was simply staring his father down. Lucius, however, began to spasm slightly as he scrunched up his face in an expression Harry knew to be a combination of concentration and pain. Draco was trying to get a glimpse of Lucius's thoughts to try and ascertain any information stored inside his head that could lead to The Book. Neither person ever broke away from what they were doing; Draco trying to force his way into his father's mind and Lucius doing everything in his power to stop him without a wand.

Finally, after what seemed like an eternity, Draco lowered his wand. Harry noticed that it was with a satisfied expression. While Lucius was still recovering from the attack on his mind, Draco came close enough to Harry so that he could mutter something in his ear.

"It appears we need to find Cornelius Fudge."

"The former Minister of Magic?" Draco had said it loud enough for Hermione to hear as well.

Draco nodded bluntly. "The same."

"It won't be hard," said Harry. "Aurors keep tabs on all former Ministers as a safety precaution for them. In fact, I already know where to find him."

"Good." Draco turned toward his father. "So, what do we do with him? Turn him over to the Aurors?"

"It depends," Harry replied. "How certain are you that Fudge is a solid lead?"

"Very. At least, I assume it is, since he kept trying to block that thought from me."

Harry looked at Hermione. "What do you think?"

Before answering, Hermione thoughtfully bit her lip. It was something Harry had grown accustomed to whenever Hermione mulled over a challenging question. "I'm aware that keeping him in _our_ custody pretty much violates Auror protocol, but technically we wouldn't be violating anything since we're operating by ourselves."

"Okay," said Harry. "Draco, we should probably --…"

But his remark was cut short by something rather unexpected. Without warning, the roof of the warehouse was virtually ripped off with a thunderous roar of sound and a shockwave that threatened to throw all those standing onto the ground. Harry, Hermione and the others ducked down and covered their heads protectively to avoid showering debris. But just as suddenly as the roof had been ripped from its hinges, an unearthly silence took the place of the loudness that had existed mere seconds before.

Harry took the opportunity to lift his head from its bowed position, and soon enough he once again locked gazes with Lucius Malfoy.

"They're here." Malfoy spoke the two simple words with an eerie, almost haunting finality.

The missing roof resulted in the warehouse now having a clear view of the star-strewn night sky outside. This caused a bone-chilling wind to drift down into the inner area, which was now cast in darkness, save for the lanterns still aglow on the tables. But with an echoing whoosh of noise, countless black, shapeless forms flew down from the sky and into the warehouse. The figures swept across and in front of the lanterns and with sequential sounds of shattering glass, the remaining lights were extinguished. Total blackness enveloped the scene.

Once the lanterns had been demolished, though, silence once again pervaded the air. All Harry heard was his and Hermione's heavy breathing as they each attempted to see through the curtain of darkness. The only thing visible was the faint glow from Lucius Malfoy's long, blonde hair. But pretty soon, even that was wiped from view.

"_Lumos!_" Harry muttered. The tip of his wand came to life with light inches in front of his face. Harry directed it at where he remembered Lucius Malfoy sitting in his restraints, but all Harry was met with was the image of an empty chair, the chains that had encircled Malfoy's arms and legs now dangling uselessly in the air. As Harry backed up, now filled with a mounting nervousness, the light on his wand abruptly ceased to exist.

Harry said the simple incantation over and over again, but all it accomplished were brief flickers of yellow in the blanket of black. Clearly, whatever had just entered the warehouse was a very powerful form of magic, so that meant it had to be fought with spells of equal measure.

Harry directed his wand downward. "_Lumos Webulos!_" A beam of white light erupted from Harry's wand and once it came into contact with the ground, it spread like wildfire. In thin lines, the light moved in patterns across the floor most comparable to the way a spider constructs its web. Within seconds, a literal web of white light provided Harry and the others with much-needed assistance.

Then came the familiar sound which now seemed to resemble a cloak fluttering wildly in a heavy wind. Draco, Ian and Ann, all of whom had been standing nearby with their wands at the ready, rushed over toward Harry and Hermione. They all formed a tight circle with their backs pressed against one another and their wands poised for attack. The only person not in the ranks was Clayton, who stood just on the outskirts of the light, the whiteness giving him a ghostly appearance.

One moment, Clayton was there, the next he wasn't. It seemed as if the darkness literally jumped forth, grabbed hold of Clayton and yanked him back until he had completely vanished from view. The sounds of a short struggle followed before the unmistakable swipe of metal against flesh reverberated off the walls. Lastly, a slumping mixed with that same fluttering ended the parade of noise.

Seconds seemingly morphed into hours as Harry awaited the next outburst of action. But something interrupted his anticipation…something that slowly crept under Harry's shoe. Harry didn't notice it until he shifted his foot. By the light of the Light Web spell, Harry was able to determine that the oozing liquid was thick enough to be one thing: blood. Someone, or some_thing_, had slashed Clayton's throat, and the evidence was in plain sight.

Harry instinctively recoiled, causing everyone behind him to accommodate his change of position. The flow of blood had covered up some of the light, but Harry pointed his wand at a portion of the white ambience and made a movement so that the light drifted through the air until it finally illuminated what Harry feared he'd find: the crumpled, lifeless form of Clayton. The body's current position provided a gruesome clear view of Clayton's slashed throat.

Harry reverted the light back to his general surroundings, his eyes darting around frantically in search of who was inside with his group.

"Harry?" Hermione's voice was a mixture of dread and uncertainty.

Harry turned to face Hermione, but a split second later, her face vanished from sight. It took a moment for Harry to realize that the Light Web spell had been canceled out. Without even thinking, Harry raised his wand tip right beside his eyes and whispered "_Nocturno._" Immediately, the impenetrable blackness became the vibrating blue of the spell Harry cast.

What Harry expected to see and what he actually saw were two entirely different things. At first, Harry had to carefully scan the area, because no discernible human figures jumped out at him. Surprise welled up inside of Harry when he finally realized that the shapes resembling smoky snakes were the cause of all the chaos. These forms were indeed literally composed of smoke, and they moved with a fluidness that matched a cheetah. Before he knew it, Harry was watching the progress of the closest smoke serpent as it and the others flew upward, meeting in midair to form an ominous, swirling circle of hazy black mist. And from the center of this misty circle came a shower of green light, which was distorted somewhat in Harry's blue vision.

"MOVE!"

As an extra effort, Harry roughly pushed all of his body weight against everyone, therefore causing them all to tumble out of the way of the Killing Curse. Once the curse had impacted the ground, Harry lifted his head and saw the swirling circle still hanging in midair, and he never let his gaze waver from it as he helped Hermione to her feet.

"Harry?" Now, Hermione's voice shook with the fear of the unknown. "What's happening?"

"Just stay behind me," Harry answered bluntly. He heard Hermione's more confident uttering of the Nocturno Spell directly behind his right ear.

"What _is_ that?" She had clearly spotted the mist overhead.

"I think it's people," Harry replied. "They're what sprang Malfoy free."

Just then, the swirling mass broke apart into four separate smoky entities, each of them traveling in a downward arc toward Harry, Hermione and the others. From beneath their impenetrable masses burst forth multicolored spells, but all of them were narrowly blocked by Harry and Hermione, each of whom were raising their wands at different angles and deflecting whatever came their way. Pretty soon, the others joined in on the deflection so that not a single spell came within two feet of the group. It took a massive amount of concentration and quick reflexes on the parts of Harry and the others to keep blocking spells and just when it seemed like the torrent of attack would never cease, it did.

The sudden change caught everyone off-guard at first, but they quickly regained their focus and breathed heavily as they awaited a new wave of spells. But those spells never came. Through their enhanced vision, Harry and Hermione clearly saw the floating forms of the black mist. But it wasn't until this moment that Harry and Hermione noticed the mists having distinct, yet faint shapes. The mists were tubular, if a word had to be picked to describe them, with the bottoms of each tailing off into what could literally be called tails. The opposite ends, however, were more along the lines of heads. Specifically, slits broke the surface for eyes and a missing chunk created a gap that was obviously a mouth.

These figures looked like snakes.

Harry and Hermione looked at each other, and both of their pulsating blue-white faces contained the same mixture of confusion and curiosity.

"What…?" Hermione started to quietly ask, but was cut short by an unexpected burst of movement.

Two of the smoke serpents charged Harry and Hermione, hoping to take advantage of their sidetracked attention. But it was to no avail. Harry and Hermione quickly cast a Shield Charm that sent the nightmarish forms rebounding into the emptiness of the warehouse. Harry and Hermione were also smart enough to keep the Shield up to prevent any future attacks.

"Look," Hermione said, indicating the smoke serpents. "They're circling."

Indeed, the misty apparitions had reverted back to what they had previously been doing: circling their prey, waiting for the opportune moment to strike.

"Keep the shield up," Harry warned, his eyes never leaving the source of the trouble.

It was a smart thing for him to say, because seconds later, the smoke serpents began to dart all around the warehouse itself, flying as close to the walls as possible. At first, Harry wasn't sure what the purpose of this was, but it didn't take long for him to find out.

In a move recognizable from the Death Eaters, the serpents' frantic flying was causing the warehouse to steadily crumble to pieces. Chunks of wall rained down upon the group in a violent barrage, the pieces that hit the Shield bouncing away much like how a rubber ball bounces off a polished floor. The noise was almost deafening, and pretty soon, the shower of rather large debris came to the point where it was pretty much impossible to see through. At times, Harry feared that the Shield Charm would eventually break from the relentless pressure.

Finally, after a violent crescendo of rumbling and shaking, it all stopped. Once it did, Harry realized that during the destruction, he and the others had actually been crouched low to the ground, despite having a protective barrier between them and the debris. Cautiously, he and Hermione got to their feet, followed by the others. The pink Shield Charm still glowed strong and bright, as hard as a brick wall to the touch.

Outside the domed shield, what remained of the warehouse lay in crumbled, mountainous heaps. Debris lay scattered as far as the eye could see, nearly reaching out to the dock that sat just before the harbor. A warehouse literally caving in on itself was too large an event to go unnoticed, and sure enough, the sound of police sirens sliced into the silence, steadily becoming louder with each passing second.

Harry and Hermione simultaneously looked up to see the retreating images of the smoke serpents as they purposefully flew toward the direction of the full moon. It was then that Harry felt secure enough to lift the Shield Charm with the true danger having passed. He turned to the others as the police sirens soon became accompanied by tiny flashing lights in the distance.

"We have to find somewhere to go," he said, his voice somewhat hoarse with shock at what just happened. "The Ministry will have been able to detect that use of magic in a Muggle area."

"What _were_ those things?" Hermione asked breathlessly. "They just snatched up Malfoy out of thin air. Do you think he's dead?"

"No, I don't," Harry replied. "Malfoy seemed to have been anticipating their arrival. Whoever or _whatever_ those things were seemed to want to prevent Malfoy from telling us anything." He eyed Draco rather consolingly. "I'm sorry about Clayton. You'll have time to mourn him later, but right now, we need a place to lie low."

"My underground chambers," Draco answered after he had cleared his throat. "No one else but us knows they exist."

"Then let's get there immediately," said Hermione.

But before another move could be made, countless cracks signaled the arrival of a batch of Aurors, all of whom aimed their wands and shot black ropes from them in one swift motion. The ropes wrapped themselves around their targets in such a tight grip, they threatened to cut off necessary blood flow to various limbs.

Harry and Hermione were the last ones to tumble into the debris of the warehouse, struggling uselessly against their bonds. Their inability to Disapparate from these bonds told Harry and Hermione that they were the custom-made ropes of the Aurors, therefore confirming to them that this wasn't a second wave of attacks from the things that had freed Malfoy.

Harry was on his back, which provided him with a clear view of the moon, which was blanketed in blue due to the Nocturno spell still shrouding his eyes. But pretty soon, that view was blocked by someone stepping in front of the moon and staring down at Harry. It was Liam Barnes himself.

"We need to have a little talk."


	13. The Secret Duty

CHAPTER THIRTEEN

_**THE SECRET DUTY**_

Methods of interrogation have evolved over the years, so the locations in which they take place in turn reflect those evolutions. In medieval times, elaborate machines occupied dank dungeon cells and would be used in various fashions to extract information from prisoners. These days, things hadn't much changed, with more advanced tools being employed by any law enforcement office. By comparison, the magical community's means extended beyond vials of Veritaserum and the Cruciatus Curse. But there was one method that had always proved effective for either side of the human race: unbearable silence.

It was exactly what Harry was experiencing at the moment as he sat in one of the unremarkably gray Interrogation Rooms of the Auror Office, waiting for the rounds of questioning he knew were coming. Harry knew that isolating a suspect for a certain period of time and letting the silence slowly unnerve them into a weakened, vulnerable state was one of the approaches most Aurors seemed to favor, but Harry's training had taught him to become impervious to such situations. So rather than let the stillness in the air get the best of him, Harry calmly passed the time thinking of how he was going to get in touch with Cornelius Fudge.

Unlike all other suspects who were brought in for questioning, Harry wasn't bound to the steel chair by restraints. But it didn't carry any importance, because even if he did try and escape, the guards stationed just outside the door would have prevented him from getting very far.

It came as no surprise that it was Barnes who walked in through the door, fixing Harry with his sternest gaze the moment he stepped foot inside the room. Without saying a word, Barnes pulled the chair opposite Harry out from underneath the table and sat down. Still not breaking his wordless trance, Barnes reached into his pocket, took out his wand and placed it directly in the middle of the empty table between himself and Harry. This gesture told Harry what Barnes's intentions were.

"Both of us have seen enough in the field that we know how everything goes," Barnes said in a matter-of-fact tone. "So I think it only prudent that we dispense with the perfunctory skirting of answers. All I'm asking for is the truth."

Harry nodded curtly to show that he was on the same page.

Barnes connected his fingers in front of him and leaned forward, into the narrow beam of light cast by an overhanging blue torch directly above the table. "You depart from your duties here with no word of where you're going, directly after Lucius Malfoy stages an attack here and your fiancé turns up dead. The very next night, the house belonging to Hermione's parents nearly goes up in flames. And then, earlier today, Lucius Malfoy is abducted from his mansion just hours before you and Hermione are found at a possible crime scene. And in the company of Draco Malfoy, I might add. Now, the pieces of the puzzle are all here, I merely need help assembling them."

Harry shrugged, trying to keep his expression as casual as possible. "What do you want to know?"

"I want to know if you have your own operation going on without authorization. It seems to me you're using Ginny's death as a reason to finally settle your vendetta against Lucius Malfoy."

Harry rose to his feet, but not in the expected angrily violent way. "That's what you think?" His voice quavered with emotion. "You think I'd let Ginny's death serve as cause to bring in Malfoy? If there's one thing I've learned from you, Liam, it's that you never let personal feelings keep you from doing your job. The reason I abducted Malfoy concerns an entirely different matter."

"Which is?"

Harry sank back down into his chair, internally debating what he should divulge to Barnes.

"Nobody's accusing you of anything. If you're pursuing a lead related to the Malfoy case, I need to know what it is."

Out of impulse, Harry was on the verge of telling Barnes all about the plot involving The Book of Merlin, but then the theory of there being a traitor in the Auror Department prevented him from doing so. All this time, Barnes had been the prime suspect to be the leak, but Harry's infallible ability to read people's eyes was telling him that Barnes would rather die than betray what he believed in. The patient curiosity in Barnes's gaze betrayed the notion of him being a double agent. How, Harry wasn't sure, but he just _knew_ treachery was beyond Barnes.

"How much do you know about The Book of Merlin?"

Barnes straightened up in his chair, his eyes narrowed. "More than you might expect." Harry's expression made him continue. "It was something of interest to The Magical Artifact Recovery Office years ago."

"Was it found?" Harry asked, perking up a great deal.

"Unfortunately, no. The closest they ever got to it was learning about one possible resting place. When a few Recoverables arrived at the scene, they couldn't find anything, despite having scoured the entire area."

"Where was this?"

"An abandoned castle somewhere in Scotland. Ever since, The Book has evaded any who try to find it." Barnes paused for a moment, his eyes scanning Harry's face. "Is Lucius Malfoy looking for it?"

"At the behest of someone else, apparently. He wasn't too subtle in telling me that."

Barnes leaned back in his chair, only starting to absorb the tidal wave of information that had just crashed over him. Before he spoke again, he rubbed his temples furiously. "If the wrong people get their hands on The Book…"

"They could unleash black magic powerful enough to wipe out entire civilizations," Harry finished for him. "I've been acquainted with what The Book can do." Harry took a breath, giving Barnes a minute to organize his thoughts. "Liam," he said calmly, "what I'm about to tell you…I need you to promise me you won't tell anyone else about it."

Barnes looked back at Harry bemusedly. "You're giving _me_ an order?"

"Liam, this isn't the time to engage in a wand-measuring contest. This is serious. If there is a leak in this office, and this information reached them, then all chances of finding The Book before Lucius Malfoy would be lost."

"Am I to take it to believe you have a way of locating The Book?" Barnes's voice was tinged with anxiousness.

"Two Recoverables approached Draco Malfoy with certain…tools that can point the way."

Barnes's expression darkened somewhat at the mention of Draco. "This brings up an interesting point. Where do Draco Malfoy's loyalties lie, exactly?"

"He's on our side," Harry answered almost instantly. "I'm sure of it."

"How?"

"Draco's a scarred man. I haven't come across anybody who can fake wanting redemption so well."

"You'd be surprised how many men can act convincingly enough."

"Lucius Malfoy killed his wife in cold blood. He took Draco's mother away from him, and Draco despises him for it. You can think I'm merely sympathizing with his pain all you want, but I believe Draco Malfoy genuinely wants to atone." When Barnes displayed minimal acquiescence, Harry jumped back in. "Look, at least give him a chance. He deserves the opportunity to prove himself. I'll keep a constant eye on him."

Barnes tapped his forefinger to his lips. "If he attempts anything, he goes straight to Azkaban."

Harry knew that was the best he was going to get out of Barnes on the matter, so he nodded his head in agreement.

"So what's the next step in finding The Book?" asked Barnes.

"During an attempted interrogation, we were able to get a name from Lucius Malfoy: Cornelius Fudge."

"What?" Barnes sputtered incredulously. "The former Minister of Magic?"

"Yes. Now, we're unsure of the extent of his involvement, but whatever that may be, we need to question him. In case he knows anything vital."

"I can send agents to his residence to escort him here."

"Do it fast," advised Harry. "Malfoy could be going after Fudge at this very moment."

Barnes nodded and both he and Harry got up from their chairs. Barnes scooped up his wand before he led Harry out into the hallway where two muscular Aurors stood guard at the door. The Aurors snapped to attention the moment their boss faced them and diligently parted company after Barnes had issued his orders.

"Where's Hermione?" Harry asked the minute he and Barnes were once again alone.

"Right next door," Barnes replied. "We questioned her first to make sure your stories checked out."

Harry gave Barnes an inquisitive look over the top of his glasses. "Questioned?" he said before a lingering pause. "Or interrogated?"

"Harry, you have to understand that until I spoke with Hermione, I believed you were somehow in collusion with Malfoy. It was a possibility I needed to eliminate."

"Damn it, Liam!" Harry exclaimed. "Who do you think Hermione's loyal to? The Ministry or--…"

"She's loyal to _you_. That much was obvious when I started to question her. And, no offense, but sometimes loyalty can work against those who practice it."

Harry angrily turned his back on Barnes, pacing shortly in an attempt to calm his nerves. The thought of Hermione being forcefully interrogated made both his blood boil and his heart ache at the same time. He whirled around to face Barnes again.

"I swear, if you used anything invasive…" Harry's voice trailed off weakly.

"Legilimency," Barnes replied evenly. "Although it took a bit of work, since Hermione is so accomplished with those methods."

Harry looked at the closed door to the room where Hermione was and took a calming breath. "You should tell our MI5 liaisons to pass word along on Lucius Malfoy. We're gonna need all the help we can get."

Barnes didn't say anything, merely nodded and departed, knowing full well Harry was subtly asking for some privacy. When Barnes was a good distance away, Harry opened the door to Hermione's interrogation room and entered.

He found Hermione sitting in a chair similar to the one he'd had in the adjacent room, and her head was slightly slumped down. Harry turned his attention to the two Aurors standing guard in the shadows, fixing them with a piercing glare.

"Get out," he said curtly, his voice like a knife slicing through the air.

"But, we were told to--…" began the first Auror.

"Barnes wants you back out on the main floor. I suggest you not keep him waiting."

The Aurors looked as if they wished to argue petulantly, but they knew that if Barnes made a request, it needed to be carried out. They swept out of the room swiftly, glancing uncertainly over their shoulders at Harry as they did. Once Harry and Hermione were alone, Harry instantly went to Hermione's side, kneeling down beside her.

He cupped her chin and turned her face toward him. "Hey," he muttered gently. "Hermione."

It looked as if she were caught in that moment where sleep slowly starts to recede and consciousness gradually lifts your eyelids. Hermione's eyes fluttered open, glazed over at first, but coming into focus within a matter of seconds. Harry kept his left hand on Hermione's face while he squeezed her shoulder affectionately with his right.

"I'm sorry," Harry said genuinely. "I had no idea they would do that."

"It's not your fault, Harry." Hermione's voice surprisingly wasn't trembling or weak, as Harry thought it would've been. Instead, it contained the firmness of someone who could withstand extreme exertion of any sort. Definitely something new for Hermione. "Not at all."

Harry couldn't resist. He pulled Hermione into a passionate kiss, all his feelings of relief escaping from his lips. "Come on," he said as they each rested their heads against one another. "We have work to do."

Harry and Hermione exited the interrogation room and came out into the narrow, windowless hallway that led to the bullpen.

"So what's happening?" asked Hermione as they stepped out into the main gathering area for the Aurors.

"This has become an official Auror mission, authorized by Liam Barnes himself," Harry said in a mock-announcing tone of voice. "He's sent men to pick up Cornelius Fudge."

Once they reached Harry's desk, Harry crouched over it, resting his hands on the wooden perimeter. Then, Harry swiped one of his hands across the center of his desk, which turned into a hazy screen similar to a Muggle computer. Through a series of complicated movements involving both his wand and hands, Harry was able to pull up information on Cornelius Fudge. He quickly began to scan lines of text for any indication of a connection to The Book.

At the same time, Hermione leaned backward against the edge of the desk, her arms folded. But instead of reading along with Harry, she focused on the empty desk beside Harry's; the one that used to belong to Ron. She noticed how a cluttered mess of ink bottles, quills and papers it was, and couldn't help but crack a smile. Ron wasn't known for his cleanliness, something Hermione regularly pointed out but now, she was having bittersweet feelings over this sight.

"I kept telling him to straighten that all out." Harry's voice broke Hermione out of her reverie. When she looked over at him, Harry was staring at Ron's desk with the same expression as Hermione. "But as usual, he kept putting it off."

"We can't just avoid them." There was no need for Hermione to emphasize who she meant by "them". "The Weasleys will want to talk to us. We owe them that. They deserve the consolation."

"When all this is over, we will. I promise." Harry rubbed Hermione's arm affectionately while his other hand slipped inside his pants pocket and fingered Ginny's memory vial. He then cleared his throat. "There's nothing even remotely resembling a connection between Fudge and The Book."

Hermione tucked some of her hair behind her ear and examined the information being presented on the desk. "I don't get it. But whatever's going on here, it must be far bigger than we thought."

Harry and Hermione sensed the sudden presence of someone else behind them and turned around to see Draco standing there. From the way his face was mildly contorted, it was clear that he was relatively uncomfortable being inside Auror Headquarters.

"Never thought I'd see this office," Draco remarked.

Harry and Hermione quickly shared a look. "Have you been brought up to speed?" Harry asked.

"Yeah. If I try anything sneaky during the course of this operation, I'll be sharing a cell with my father's former friends." Draco's voice contained a slight hint of disgust, which suggested he was disappointed his new loyalty to the law was still in question.

"Don't dwell on these old grudges," said Hermione. "Just prove yourself to them. That's all it'll take."

Draco nodded, stepping forward. "Any leads?"

"Not yet," replied Harry. "But we're gonna question Fudge to see what he knows."

"Speak of the devil," Draco muttered, his eyes affixed to the fireplace built into the far wall of the bullpen.

A sudden outburst of emerald light alerted Harry and Hermione to the arrival of Cornelius Fudge, who was accompanied out of the green flames by two bland-looking Aurors. Fudge had an expression plastered across his face that communicated his feelings of confusion and fear very clearly. As Fudge was marched right on by Harry, Hermione and Draco, he shared a look with the three young people that showed something different: regret. Evidently, he was still ashamed of himself for not believing Harry and Hermione five years ago about Voldemort's return, and ashamed that he hadn't recognized Lucius Malfoy for the traitor he really was.

As Harry, Hermione and Draco pivoted to track Fudge's path, they then became aware that Barnes had now joined them.

"He'll be waiting in Interrogation Room 1," Barnes informed them. He extended his left hand, holding a vial of Veritaserum out to Harry. "To help speed along the process."

Harry took the vial and gripped it tightly.

"Liam," he said, "why are you helping us all of a sudden?"

"Lucius Malfoy killed an Auror," answered Barnes as he glanced over at Ron's desk. "That there is reason enough, seeing as how we both want to bring in the same man. However, The Minister _did_ have a word with me before we caught up to you. He emphasized finding The Book is now Priority One."

At that moment, an Auror approached Barnes and whispered something in his ear, to which Barnes nodded and replied, "Show him over." He looked at Harry and Hermione's confused faces. "The Minister also provided us with the help of a Ministry official with a rather extensive knowledge of Arthurian myth and legend, thus information pertaining to Merlin himself."

Almost on cue, a handsome and regal-looking man with dark hair came up beside Barnes. He sported a black business suit rather than robes and had the kind of eyes that could be warm with kindness one moment, but cold with cruelty the next. Encircling his mouth was a neatly trimmed goatee that was dark just like his hair, yet flecked with tinges of gray. His build was rather broad and he seemed to radiate authority. In fact, it wouldn't have surprised Harry if he had reflexively stuck out his hand for the man to shake.

"May I introduce Rene Garrett, Senior Ministry Staff member, former Auror and resident expert on medieval magic."

Once Barnes had introduced him, Garrett nodded respectively toward Harry and the others. "Quite a pleasure, Harry." Garrett's voice sounded just as regal as its owner looked. "I personally think it's a crime we haven't met until now."

He held out his hand and without even thinking, Harry took it.

"Senior Ministry Staff member?" Harry gave Garrett a quizzical look. "Forgive me, but what exactly _is_ the Senior Ministry Staff? I haven't heard of it."

"Well, we're quite like our own version of what's known as the Cabinet in America. We're the ones who help the Minister run everything. In fact, sometimes, I guess you could say we're the brains of the organization. Why, there are even times when we could run things _without_ the Minister."

Immediately, Harry got a vibe from Garrett that made his impression of the man uncertain. In general, he was turned off by the smug air of superiority Garrett demonstrated. Harry didn't know whether to respect Garrett or resent him.

"Right, well, if you'll excuse me, I have a questioning to conduct."

Harry, Hermione and Draco moved to walk toward the Interrogation Rooms, but were stopped by the sound of Garrett's voice.

"I heard about Ronald and Ginny Weasley. My deepest condolences to you and Miss Granger."

"Thank you."

Unable to think of any other way to sustain the conversation, Harry walked with Hermione and Draco to where Cornelius Fudge was waiting. Once they approached the Interrogation Room, Harry put his hand on the handle, but paused and turned back to Hermione and Draco.

"I think I should take care of this by myself. Fudge will be more inclined to cooperate if he thinks it'll gain back my trust."

"Are you sure?" asked Draco.

"Positive. Fudge is a politician. Politicians always want to get in somebody's good graces."

Hermione and Draco made agreeable gestures. "Good luck," said Hermione as she and Draco started towards the room where they could observe through the one-way mirror.

Once they were gone, Harry pushed down on the door handle and entered the room. He found Cornelius Fudge seated behind the table, the same confused expression still on his face. Rather than sitting down opposite him, Harry chose to lean against the wall, next to the dark reflective mirror that blocked the people on the other side from view.

An uncomfortable, tension-filled silence pervaded the air until Fudge finally broke it, unable to stand it any longer.

"H-Harry, what is going--…"

"The Book of Merlin," Harry stated flatly. "What do you know about it?"

"The Book…" Fudge's voice was almost a whisper. Whether it contained recognition or just more confusion, Harry wasn't sure, but he had little time to waste in finding out.

"May I remind you that if you do know something about it and choose to lie, that's an obstruction of justice. Dangerous people who have the same question are after you right now as well, and trust me when I say what they'll do to you won't even compare to what I will do if you don't start talking."

From behind the glass, Draco regarded Hermione with curious eyes. "Seems like being an Auror has toughened Harry up a bit."

"It's part of an Auror's training," Hermione replied. "Interrogating a suspect can require getting your hands dirty from time to time. And trust me, Harry isn't lying about being able to do far worse."

"Yeah, but I don't think it'll take much to break Fudge."

In the Interrogation Room, Fudge was still keeping quiet. Finally, Harry shrugged and began walking back to the door. "Fine. We'll just keep you here as long as it takes to get you to talk. And I'm sure that'll slow down your attempts to get another job at the Ministry."

"Wait." Fudge's voice halted Harry in his tracks as he was in the process of walking out the door. "I'll tell you whatever you want to know."

Harry smirked as he closed the door. He knew the threat of keeping Fudge from his career would be enough to get him to talk. As he passed back in front of the mirror, he gave a look of satisfaction he knew Hermione and Draco could see from the other side. "Start talking," he said curtly.

Fudge sat up straighter in his chair, clearly attempting to compose himself better, but it didn't help. "You no doubt know about my Order of Merlin, First Class?"

Harry recalled the award, which was bestowed upon witches and wizards who achieved great deeds in the magical community. The award originated from an organization in the Middle Ages that was founded by Merlin himself in order to promote laws that would benefit people in both the Muggle and magical communities. Somewhere down the line, the organization turned into an award, the kind of award Harry thought Cornelius Fudge was undeserving of.

"Yes, I know," Harry replied dryly. "What about it?"

"It's more than a reason to gloat," said Fudge. "Along with the fancy plaque comes a responsibility. A secret duty, if you will. The Order of Merlin was initiated by Merlin himself and in addition to their known goals, the members of the Order were also given the task of ensuring the protection of Merlin's spell book. A task that still remains a priority."

"So how is The Book protected?" asked Harry.

"The Book lies buried in a secret catacomb, protected by various enchantments. It would take a skilled witch or wizard to navigate such death traps." Fudge surveyed Harry carefully. "Of course, I probably shouldn't have doubts about _you_."

Harry stepped closer to the table. "How do we find this resting place?"

"How do you think? Through the usual means of treasure hunting…you use a map."

"Where is it?"

"With the person still living who has the highest Class of the award. In this case, me. But it's not that simple," Fudge added quickly upon seeing Harry's reaction. "As an extra measure of security, the map was split in half and the second half was and still is entrusted to the member with the second highest honor."

Harry stiffened at the same time Hermione and Draco shared an uneasy glance. Harry leaned over the table so that his face was inches from Fudge's. "So you only have _half_ the map." He let the statement hang in the air as if it were a person hanging from a cliff's edge. "Who has the other half?" Fudge didn't answer, but instead looked down sullenly, which caused Harry to slam his fists down on the table. "WHO HAS THE OTHER HALF?!"

Fudge looked back into Harry's eyes bleakly. "Like I said…the next surviving Order recipient." Fudge took a deep breath. "Gilderoy Lockhart."


	14. Memory Restoration

CHAPTER FOURTEEN

_**MEMORY RESTORATION**_

The effect of Fudge's words caught Harry so off-guard, he was forced to sink back down into his chair in order to fully absorb them.

_Gilderoy Lockhart has the other half_. The statement floated around inside Harry's head, echoing each time Fudge's voice repeated them. This presented an unforeseen obstacle for Harry and the others. If Gilderoy Lockhart possessed the other half of the map and the location of it was known only to him, finding it was now impossible. Seven years ago, Lockhart's memory had been completely erased as a result of a faulty wand and as far as Harry knew, Lockhart was still in his amnesiac state and therefore unable to divulge the information they needed.

"Do you have _any_ idea how big of a problem that presents?" Harry asked dryly.

Fudge heaved a great sigh. "I'm sorry. But what I _can_ do is give you the half I have."

Without even waiting for a response from Harry, Fudge snapped his fingers and with a loud crack, his trademark green bowler hat materialized out of thin air, along with a small silver knife. Fudge caught both in each of his hands and immediately flipped his hat so that the inside was directed toward his face.

Harry observed with inquiring eyes as Fudge carefully started to tear away at the lining of his hat. Once the task was complete, Fudge discarded the torn shred of lining and reached inside his hat to produce a folded-up piece of parchment. It was colored a brownish yellow, as if years of being preserved inside of a hat had done nothing to interrupt the aging process of the paper. Gently, Fudge placed the parchment on the table between him and Harry and sat back in his own chair.

For what seemed like an hour, Harry just stared at the parchment as if looking away would cause it to vanish. Finally, he took out his wand and pointed it at the parchment, performing a slight movement so that the parchment rose up into the air, unfolding itself in the process. Once Harry could see what the parchment held properly, he began to notice the sort of markings that were typical of Muggle treasure maps. Minute writing showed indicators of certain pieces of land, some of them cut off because of the tear that had occurred down the middle. Harry attempted to use what was in front of him to determine exactly where it was the map was showing, but he simply couldn't. The markings were too general.

"So what now?" asked Fudge rather nervously.

Harry made the half-map glide effortlessly into his hand. He refolded it and held it with as little pressure as possible after having put back his wand. "You wait here. Someone will escort you back home and put up protection for you."

"Protection?"

"The people looking for The Book are dangerous people, Fudge. You're at risk as much as anyone else who knows about it. If Lucius Malfoy were to find out you helped us, it wouldn't be pretty." Harry got up and went to the door and opened it. "Don't even try Disapparating. These rooms have jinxes in them to prevent that."

Harry exited the Interrogation Room, properly securing the door behind him. He then entered the Observation Room directly beside it. He hurried over to Hermione and Draco, the half of the map still in hand.

"So what do you want to do?" said Hermione, getting right to the point. "Restoring memories isn't as simple as snapping your fingers."

"Do you think Fudge is even telling the truth about Lockhart?" Draco inquired. "I mean, would he have any reason to lie?"

"No," replied Harry as he handed the map half to Hermione. "Fudge will do anything to get back into the Ministry's good graces. He's not about to send us on a wild goose chase if it hurts his chances of getting back in."

At that moment, the door opened and in walked Ian and Ann.

"Then we have to find a way of regaining Lockhart's memories." Draco smirked. "And just when I was getting used to having the community free of egocentric dolts."

"Lockhart? Gilderoy Lockhart?" Ann's voice contained both surprise and disgust, which indicated that she too hadn't been a big fan of the author.

"What did Fudge tell you?" Ian asked as he stared at the man in question through the one-way glass.

"Half of the map leading to The Book is in Gilderoy Lockhart's possession," said Harry exasperatedly. "Which means we have to find a way to restore Lockhart's memories so he can tell us where it is."

"But Harry, bringing back a person's memories requires time, time we may not have." Hermione handed Harry back the half of the map Fudge had provided, and Harry tucked it safely away in his pocket. "Lucius Malfoy has already proven that he has good resources, who's to say they won't get to Lockhart first?"

"True," Harry agreed as he cupped his chin inside his hand in a thoughtful gesture. "But St. Mungo's is practically impregnable after hours, even if you're Lucius Malfoy." Harry gave his watch a quick glance and saw that it was currently 1:40 in the morning. Like a jackhammer to the head, a wave of exhaustion suddenly overcame Harry. "We'll have to wait until morning, when they open."

"So in the meantime?" Draco crossed his arms.

The instructions came tumbling out of Harry's mouth so fast, it was as if what he said was a preprogrammed response. "We need to track down a method of memory restoration that doesn't take long, preferably an instant one. There are only a few hours to do so." Harry pushed his glasses up onto his forehead and rubbed his eyes wearily, fatigue threatening to settle into his bones. The prospect of sleep looked bleak at the moment.

"You know, I could handle that with Ian and Ann," Draco offered. "You and Hermione should get some sleep."

Harry was still getting used to Draco's new outlook on life, so it took him a while to realize there was no hint of sarcasm or insincerity in his voice. "No, that's alright. We don't mind--…"

"You've fought more battles over this mission than any of us," Ann cut in firmly. "If you want our help in this, then give us the opportunity to lend it."

"Okay," Harry acquiesced before he managed to stifle a yawn. "Look through whatever sort of records relate to Memory Charms in any capacity, but find me an answer." Harry looked back at Fudge. "And get a few Aurors to escort Fudge back home. Make sure he's given all the necessary protection."

"Harry, what makes you think there's a shortcut to all this?" asked Hermione.

"This _can't_ be the first time magical security has hinged on restoring someone's memories," he answered simply.

"We'll find a way," Ian assured Harry and Hermione before he left the room accompanied by Ann and Draco. This left Harry and Hermione alone.

Hermione was giving Harry a look that clearly expressed her mixed feelings about the whole plan. This prompted Harry to reply, "I just don't see any other option right now." He moved closer to her. "Look, I know you're all about verifiable facts, but sometimes you have to take leaps of faith and hope you're doing the right thing."

Hermione bit her lip and nodded, tucking a lock of her hair behind her ear.

Harry smirked. "So what d'you say? I think we both _could_ use some sleep. We'll need to be alert tomorrow."

With that, Harry slipped his arm around Hermione's shoulders and guided her out of the Observation Room. Seconds later, they were back in the bullpen which was abuzz with activity, despite the late hour. It was safe to presume Barnes had as many people working on recovering The Book as possible.

"Harry," Ian called out from across the bullpen, "Barnes said you can use his office."

Harry and Hermione crossed the room to the set of stairs that led up to Barnes' office. Barnes himself was hunched over an Auror's desk at the moment, most likely conversing over something involving The Book. Once Harry and Hermione had entered the office, Harry closed and locked the door, along with closing all the blinds, with a flick of his wand. Meanwhile, Hermione set about conjuring up a singular bed small enough to fit inside the office, yet big enough to hold two people.

Neither of them wasted any time climbing in between the soft cotton sheets and settling into the warmness such a comfort provided. Hermione nestled herself in Harry's arms and Harry pulled her closer to his chest. It didn't take long for either of them to fall asleep.

* * *

Harry observed his surroundings with keen eyes, but it wasn't that difficult for him to realize he was back inside The Burrow. More specifically, he was standing in the kitchen, in exactly the same spot where he and Hermione had discovered the bodies of Ron and Ginny. Indeed, the two dead Weasleys were lying where they had been a few days ago. But what happened next caught Harry totally off-guard.

Ginny's body suddenly started stirring and pretty soon, she stood up. Harry backed away a few steps out of impulse as Ginny walked slowly toward him with an expression as serene as a Goddess. As Ginny came to stand directly in front of Harry, Harry was rooted to the spot. Ginny looked at Harry as if she was contemplating something, and then she leaned in and locked lips with him. The kiss was entirely one-sided, as Harry was still overcome with shock to react that much.

But when Ginny pulled back, Harry felt something solid and cylindrical appear between their mouths. It was Ginny who took it in her hand and held it up for Harry to see. It was the memory vial that had been in Harry's possession ever since that night.

With a steady hand, Harry reached out to claim it, but Ginny kept the vial just out of his reach. Before Harry could do anything else, Ginny unscrewed the miniscule top of the vial and tipped the contents out into her hand. The milky white streams of vapor spilled across her palm much like solid water, becoming firm the instant they came into contact with her pale skin.

"Loving her will endanger _everyone_." Ginny's unwavering voice echoed as if she were speaking into a microphone inside a large stadium.

With that, Ginny gripped the misty white memory vapor tightly and threw it in the space between her and Harry. As a result, a blinding light overtook the kitchen and when it finally settled, Harry found himself in a new setting.

But unlike The Burrow's kitchen, this place was impossible to distinguish. This was due to the fact that everything except a small circle of light in front of Harry was shrouded in shadows. What was inside the light, though, made Harry's blood run ice cold.

Sitting chained to a chair was Hermione, her mouth gagged and tear streaks making her cheeks shine. The look she was giving Harry made his heart shatter and without hesitation he ran to her aid. However, he was blocked from doing so by an invisible wall that had erected itself between him and Hermione. All of Harry's efforts to break through this barrier were useless; he was physically impeded from getting to Hermione.

Out of breath from his thrashing about, Harry rested his hands on his knees and panted heavily. With despair in his eyes, Harry looked deeply into Hermione's fearful ones. That was the last he saw of her before a surge of green light obscured Hermione from view.

Harry's eyes jolted open to find Hermione's concerned face over his once again. Not missing a beat, Harry sat up and embraced her tightly, kissing her in relief.

"Harry…?"

"Another dream." Still holding on to Hermione, Harry explained what he had seen. When he finished, Hermione gently extricated herself from his grasp and stared at Harry with concern.

"What does it all mean?"

Harry reached into the pocket that held the memory vial of Ginny's and pulled it out. "It means whatever this memory contains may be important."

Hermione nodded in agreement. "Of course. Maybe there's something more vital than the identity of the assassin that Ginny wanted you to know about."

"She wanted _us_, Hermione," Harry clarified. "She wanted _us_ to know about." Harry stared sullenly down at the glowing vial. "But I'm not sure I can."

"Harry…"

"This memory may show her getting killed. I can't see that, I can't bear to witness my failure."

"If Ginny meant for you to see this memory, then don't you think you should oblige her last wish?" Hermione took Harry's free hand in hers and squeezed.

At the same time, Harry clenched the hand holding the vial into a fist and pressed it against his forehead. He could feel tears begin to well up underneath his eyelids. "Not just yet. And only if you view it with me."

Hermione smiled a crooked smile. "I wouldn't let you see it otherwise." She was pulled back into Harry's warm embrace.

When Harry had recounted his dream to Hermione, he had purposely left out the message Ginny had given him. Clearly, it was an omen that his relationship with Hermione might somehow be a mistake, but Harry didn't care. He _needed_ Hermione to be there for him now more than ever and he wasn't about to give her up anytime soon.

Suddenly, there came a knock on the office door, followed by the sound of Ian's voice. "Harry, Hermione. We've found it."

The abrupt proclamation caused Harry and Hermione to hasten in straightening up. Harry replaced the vial in his pocket and walked over to the door as Hermione made the bed vanish. Once it was gone, Harry opened the door.

Ian darted in, with Ann and Draco close on his heels. Once they were inside, Harry shut the door once more. "What did you find out?" he asked.

"You were right," said Ann. "There's a more expedient way of returning one's memories." She handed Harry a folder, which he opened to find a piece of paper with what looked like ancient text. Hermione came up beside Harry to look over his shoulder. "Combing through magical records, we came across this. Over the years, there have been instances where witnesses to various crimes have had their memories wiped of the event before Aurors could get to them. Obviously, this would prevent testimony, so the Ministry began looking into ways to counteract this. No spells or potions proved effective, so they began looking into more _practical_ methods…and they found one."

When Harry's eyes found what Ann was getting at, his face slackened in disbelief. He looked up at her with a neutral expression. "A near-death experience?"

"They say your whole life flashes before your eyes when you're about to die," Ann replied coolly. "That implies that you would see memories of your past life."

"Ann…I died myself a few years ago. That didn't happen to me."

"Actually…," Hermione began hesitantly, "you _did_ see the ghosts of your family."

"Exactly," said Ian. "It works different ways for different people. In the case of amnesiacs, you introduce a big enough pre-death shock, they'll be flooded with past memories."

"So you're saying we should nearly kill Lockhart." The fact that Hermione didn't phrase it as a question conveyed the fact that she was starting to open up to any possibility at this point. "Did you run this by Barnes?"

"We did," replied Ann. "Predictably, he isn't too keen about it either, but he still agrees it's our only option at the moment."

"But it's going to have to be an off-the-books assignment officially," Ian noted. "If we get caught, it's game over."

"Okay," Harry said as he closed the folder. "We need to come up with a way to almost kill a man without anybody else noticing. And here I thought we weren't going to need to break the rules anymore. Any ideas?"

"We already have one," said Draco as he stepped away from the window.

* * *

The Janus Thickey Ward of St. Mungo's Hospital is a part of the Fourth Floor of the building dedicated to treatment of patients who have suffered permanent damage from spells. In this ward reside patients of misfired Memory Charms, more specifically. This was where Gilderoy Lockhart was located.

However, The Janus Thickey Ward is kept locked at all times as a preventive measure to keep its patients from wandering around the Hospital. To gain access, you either need to be a family member of a resident or have permission to accompany the Healer tasked with overseeing the patients. One couldn't just walk in on a whim and not fall under one of those two categories.

That was the only obstacle left for Harry and the others to conquer. Having slipped inside St. Mungo's undetected by means of Invisibility Charms, Harry's team had stealthily navigated their way to the Fourth Floor and were currently standing outside the double doors that led into the ward. They were waiting for the ward's Healer to start her shift for the day. Due to the time crunch, Harry and the others only had enough time to study the Healer's schedule so that they could have a definitive time window for what they needed to do. The time was now 8:59 in the morning; the Healer's shift began at 9 a.m.

Sure enough, about thirty seconds later, a middle-aged woman with blonde hair and traditional lime green Healer robe appeared in front of the double doors with a key in hand.

Harry didn't waste a second. Still disguised by the Invisibility Charm, he raised his wand and half-whispered, "_Stupefy_."

A thin jet of red light quickly encased the Healer before she slumped motionless to the floor. Moving quickly, Harry and Draco momentarily lifted their Invisibility Charms and rushed toward the Healer . They stood at opposite ends of her and lifted her body up as best they could; Harry being tasked with the arms and Draco the legs. Harry and Draco hauled her over to the wall and set her back down.

In the meantime, the others had become visible. Ian had his wand out and positioned himself beside the doors so that he could see anyone coming down the hallway. Ann was bent over the Healer and was busy removing a bit of her hair before placing it in a small glass of Polyjuice Potion. The Auror Department kept a large sample of the potion on reserve in case a mission ever called for disguises.

Draco was donning a lime green robe of his own, which even had a name tag on it which read: Burbank. Harry and Hermione followed suit, putting on similar robes.

By now, Ann had taken the Polyjuice Potion and she now looked like the Stunned Healer. Harry motioned at his green robe as a reminder for Ann to put on hers. Ann obliged, hurriedly slipping the garment off the still body, leaving the Healer in a white blouse and Navy blue skirt.

With everything in place, Harry put a hand on Ian's shoulder. "Don't forget to reactivate your Invisibility Charm."

Ian nodded silently and a second later, he had disappeared from view and Harry's hand was hanging in midair.

"Go. Go!" came Ian's urgent voice.

Harry didn't need telling twice. With Hermione and Draco by his side, he used the key to enter the ward as calmly and confidently if it were his own home.

The ward was just as Harry remembered it. Incredibly bland overall, with barely an object that wasn't white, save for whatever personal belongings the patients had at their bedside. Most of the patients were already awake and were busying themselves by finding various forms of entertainment. A few looked up at the three new people in the ward, with some waving kindly at Ann and calling out the name of the Healer she was impersonating: Judith.

Ann turned to Harry. "What do I do? How do you handle amnesiac patients?"

Harry shrugged. "Just ask them how they're doing and if they need anything. Try to keep their spirits up."

Ann nodded and went over to the patient closest to her. Harry, Hermione and Draco meanwhile, made their way over to the bed which held their former teacher of many years ago: the once-famous Gilderoy Lockhart.

Overall, Lockhart didn't look too shabby. The years had been pretty kind to him, with only tinges of his boyishly blond hair flecked by gray. He was buried in one of his own books when Harry, Hermione and Draco came up to him. _Some things never change_, Harry thought to himself.

When Lockhart noticed he had company, he gazed at the three of them with his signature toothy smile. "Can I help you with something? Are you here to see me? Do you want an autograph?" He reached over to his bedside table to pick up a quill. "Apparently, I'm famous."

Not surprisingly, Lockhart's condition wasn't any better than it had been when Harry had last seen him. Harry exchanged a quick look with Draco.

"Mr. Lockhart, my name is Norman Burbank." Draco was able to sell the name convincingly. "I'm here to conduct a little experiment."

"Experiment?" Lockhart straightened up. "What kind of experiment?"

"One involving your memory. If it works, then you'll have them all back."

"Is that so?" Delight seeped into Lockhart's voice and his eyes brightened. It was a relatively easy task to convince a long-term amnesiac of something like this. "And your research on this is solid, is it?"

"I've run numerous tests. The results have been entirely positive." Draco managed a reassuring smile as support.

"And, um, Judith knows about all this, right?" Lockhart glanced down the room at the disguised Ann and waved.

Harry and Hermione shared a smirk. Harry had to admit, Lockhart was asking the right questions.

"Of course," replied Draco. "And she approves. Now, why don't you put on something more…appropriate and accompany my assistants and me. We need to go elsewhere for this."

It took Lockhart less than two minutes to slip into a pair of pants underneath his thin hospital gown. Once he was ready, Draco led them all toward the door, where they would then travel to the spot chosen by Harry to ensure that the plan worked. On the way, they passed Ann.

"How long?" she murmured to Harry through barely parted lips.

"Twenty minutes at the most," Harry replied as he walked by her. He sensed Ann give an imperceptible nod.

They exited the ward and traveled the hallway secretively, making sure that no wandering eyes would notice Lockhart. Fortunately, every Healer of staff member seemed too preoccupied with other matters to pay Harry and the others much attention. But Harry soon realized it wasn't just sheer dumb luck: Hermione was furtively using her wand to cast an Illusion Charm around them that would make them appear simply as unimportant people. Finally, they came to the stairway leading up a few floors.

Draco continued to lead the way, with Lockhart sandwiched between him and Harry and Hermione. Harry and Hermione, though, were climbing the stairs backward because they had their wands leveled just in case any of Lucius Malfoy's associates appeared. They only lowered them when they had reached their floor.

At this early hour, nobody was using the Hospital Pool, as was ascertained not only from careful review of the schedule but also from there being no one inside when Harry peered through the glass rooftop overlooking it. He and the rest of the little gang were currently on the roof of St. Mungo's itself, where they were about to carry out their completely unconventional method of memory restoration. Since they needed to introduce a big-enough shock to Lockhart in order for the plan to work, Harry figured there was no bigger shock available than thinking you're about to plummet many feet to a watery death.

Draco made sure to keep Lockhart's gaze averted from the glass as Harry set about opening one of the panes in order to provide an access shaft. Next, Harry cast a Silencing Charm in the area below, so that no one would get wind of their actions. Once it was ready, Harry gave a quick nod to Draco.

Draco pulled a tan blindfold out from his pocket. "If you'll oblige me, I need you to put this on." When Lockhart took the blindfold and began to stare at it questioningly, Draco added, "It's essential to what I'm going to do."

"Well, as long it's safe," replied Lockhart.

Harry, Hermione and Draco each exchanged glances as Lockhart slipped the blindfold around his eyes and secured it tightly.

Draco took him by the arm. "Walk with me." Draco slowly guided him over to the open ceiling window and stopped just short of the drop.

"By the way," Lockhart said, "what sort of magic is involved here?"

After Draco had conjured up a rope secured around Lockhart's waist and grabbed some of the trail leading out of the knot, he gave his answer: "More of the…_practical _sort."

Without wasting any more time, Draco shoved Lockhart over the edge, letting the rope slip through his hands just the right amount. At the same time, Harry used a spell to remove the blindfold from Lockhart's head. The end result was Lockhart being abruptly and forcefully pulled back by Draco the moment he saw the sight below him. The instant Lockhart became suspended in midair, his screams of fear and protest immediately filled the air.

"HELP! SOMEONE! HELP! PULL ME UP! PLEASE!"

As Lockhart continued to cry out in vain, Harry and Hermione approached the open window through which Lockhart was hanging, observing him carefully. Time was of the essence in case the rope snapped.

"Lockhart!" Harry called down.

"HELP!" Lockhart screamed in return.

"Listen! I need your help before I can lend you mine."

"Okay, okay! Hurry!"

Harry shot a quick glance at Hermione, then at Draco before proceeding. "Can you tell me anything about yourself? Anything about your past?"

At this point, Lockhart was dangling in circles. "What…what are you talking about? Of course I can't remember anything! I was victim of a Memory Charm!"

Harry sighed as Hermione covered her mouth worriedly. Harry looked at Draco, silently giving him the order to let the rope slip a few more inches. Draco did so, but gripped it firmly once again before Lockhart could fall too far. The air was once again punctured by Lockhart's panicked screams.

"Harry, what if the rope breaks?" asked Hermione, her voice slightly shaky.

"It won't." Harry's tone suggested that he was trying to convince himself as much as Hermione.

"He's getting _very_ heavy," Draco grunted through gritted teeth. His arms were visibly shaking from the strain.

Harry looked back down. "Lockhart! Same question! Do you remember anything from your past?"

There was a slight pause before Lockhart's answer, during which Harry's heart pounded in his chest from anticipation. "YES! YES, I REMEMBER EVERYTHING!"

Harry's heart now became caught in his throat. Did he dare believe that this actually worked? In order to be sure, Harry posed a question to Lockhart, a question that stemmed from his past experiences with the author. "Seven years ago, you were our professor at Hogwarts." Harry paused. "What were the creatures you brought to our first lesson?"

When Lockhart failed to answer, Harry became worried. A whole lifetime seemed to pass in anticipatory silence as everyone's breath became bated. With each passing second, Harry grew more and more worried, fearing that their long shot gamble had been in vain. But finally, Lockhart proclaimed his reply. "PIXIES! CORNISH PIXIES!"

That was good enough for Harry. "Pull him up!" he said to Draco.

Gratefully, Draco began pulling on the rope, bringing up Lockhart with all his might. Things went well until there came the sound of snapping rope. This caused Draco to be pulled forward a few feet, but he halted himself by placing his feet against the rim of the window.

"Harry!"

Thinking fast, Harry made a huge plastic slide materialize below Lockhart, all the while keeping an eye on the portion of the rope that was breaking. There were only a few remaining strands connecting the two separated pieces of rope, and those solitary strands were quickly snapping under the strain of all the weight. Harry figured they had maybe ten seconds at best.

All the while, Draco was gradually being pulled forward by the weight of Lockhart. He was mere inches from going through the open window.

Before Harry knew it, it happened. All other sounds except for the straining rope faded into nothingness and the breaking cords alone filled Harry's ears as if amplified by some invisible speaker. It was because of that the sound of the final pieces of rope disconnecting with each other echoed inside Harry's head. And it was in slow motion in which Harry observed Lockhart drop like a sack of bricks through the air and eventually connect with the slide of Harry's, which led safely into the pool below.

Reacting without thinking, Harry jumped through the ceiling window, making sure to aim for the slide he had conjured. Successfully, his lower half made contact with the smooth, angular surface and immediately gained momentum as he slid after Lockhart. Behind him, Harry heard the thud that signified that Hermione had followed his example. He imagined Draco had been shoved backward as a result of the rope snapping and was currently lying on his back on the roof, scrambling to get a view of what was happening beneath him.

The sudden splash of water against his body brought Harry's thoughts back to the event at hand and after a brief submersion underwater, Harry broke the surface of the pool to gulp in air. After performing a quick charm to keep his glasses both dry and secured on his face, Harry saw Lockhart a short distance away with his head resting on his arm and his arm resting on the side of the pool.

Another splash beside him told Harry that Hermione had joined them in the pool, and as Harry turned his head he saw her head come up for air. Together, Harry and Hermione swam over to Lockhart, who turned to face them the moment they reached him.

"What…what did you do to me?" Lockhart asked breathlessly as the reflections of the dancing water cast his astonished face in a bluish green hue.

"We gave you your memory back," Harry replied plainly while attempting to catch his own breath.

"Harry," Lockhart said in surprise, clearly just recognizing whom he was speaking with. His gaze turned to Hermione. "Miss Granger. But…I don't understand."

"There's no time to explain," Harry pressed. "Lockhart, it's absolutely imperative that you listen. Do you recall being honored with the Order of Merlin award?"

"Why, yes, of course," answered Lockhart as his eyes darted back and forth between his interrogators. "But why would that--…?"

"How about any…_duties_ that came with the honor?" asked Hermione. "Anything regarding a specific artifact?"

Lockhart looked down at the surface of the water as he visibly started to search his newly restored memory for the answer. Finally, after what seemed like hours, Lockhart gave his reply.

"The Book of Merlin." He said it in a hushed whisper.

"You were entrusted with one half of the map showing its location," Hermione continued. "Where did you hide it?"

"The one place that matters to me most."

Harry and Hermione waited eagerly for Lockhart to finish, but during that time, Harry figured it out for himself. The one place that mattered most to a person like Gilderoy Lockhart wasn't too hard to ascertain.

"Flourish and Blotts."


	15. Race Through The Alley

**A/N: **Trying to get back on track here. Sorry for such the long delay, guys.

* * *

CHAPTER FIFTEEN

**RACE THROUGH THE ALLEY**

After helping Lockhart out of the pool and drying themselves off, Harry and Hermione escorted their former professor back to the Janus Thickey ward, where Ian and Ann were still waiting for them. Along the way, they were rejoined by Draco as Hermione resumed her task of discreetly disguising their appearance to hospital residents.

Once back in the ward, Harry and Hermione filled in their partners on what was going on. Ian had abandoned his invisibility but Ann still had some time left in her hour of Polyjuice Potion transformation, so she still looked like the Healer.

"Flourish and Blotts," she repeated once Harry and Hermione had completed their update. She shrugged her shoulders in a manner that suggested she was relatively unsurprised. "Makes sense."

"So I take it we're going on a trip to Diagon Alley, then." The way Ian said it, it was more of a statement than a question.

"Of course," replied Harry. "We need to make sure _both_ halves of the map stay out of Lucius Malfoy's hands."

"And what's your plan if we do get to The Book before him?" asked Ann.

"We take him down, simple as that."

At that moment, Draco walked over with Lockhart in tow. Lockhart himself had changed out of his hospital gown and into the one-color robes Harry remembered him for. Today's outfit was sky blue. That and the restructuring of his hair brought back memories of Harry's second year involving the general pompousness of Gilderoy Lockhart.

Harry turned to Lockhart. "You're absolutely sure you can find where you hid it?"

"Harry, my boy, you gave me back _all_ of my memories. I know for a fact where to find the map." Lockhart smiled, his face lighting up with glee. "In fact, it's the first thing I've been sure of for the past seven years."

Harry nodded, now completely resolved over the issue. He turned back to his team. "Okay, here's the plan. We're all going to Diagon Alley together to get Lockhart's piece. Once that's done, Hermione and I along with Draco will take it to Headquarters while Ian and Ann bring Lockhart back here." Harry quickly consulted his wristwatch. "Ann, you're about out of Polyjuice Potion."

As if on cue, Ann's disguised form began to bubble furiously as countless blots appeared under her skin. Within the course of five seconds, Ann had reverted back to her normal appearance, with the Healer robes she had donned still a perfect fit on her. Once the transformation back was complete, she swiped away a stray lock of her hair. "Nice timing," she commented.

"Where did you put the Healer? Harry asked her.

"Over there," Ann replied, gesturing toward a bed located right beside the set of double doors that led into the ward. The Healer lay motionless on top of the stainless white sheets, still under the effect of the Stunning Spell.

"Maybe it'd be best if we wake her back up," Harry suggested.

Ann nodded as the others gathered in a close-knit group, shepherded by Harry. Ann extended her wand out toward where the Healer was situated and flicked her wand ever so slightly.

The last thing Harry saw before he and the others all Disapparated out of St. Mungo's was the Healer come out of her stupefied state and begin to regain her bearings. Harry's vision was then overcome with a nauseatingly twisted spectrum of images, all of locations between the hospital and Diagon Alley. At last, the dizzying array of inner buildings settled into a solid brick wall…the very brick wall that offered access to the street of wizarding shops that they were heading for.

But before any of them took another step, Harry turned to face Hermione. From the looks on each of their faces, they knew that the same question was burning inside their heads.

"Do we need to disguise Lockhart?" Even though she said it aloud, Hermione phrased it in that ever-recognizable rhetorical tone that clearly communicated the answer was contained in the inquiry itself.

Harry once again observed Lockhart's attire, which he knew would easily draw unwanted attention. "If you don't mind, Lockhart, we need to alter your appearance. We don't need anyone realizing you've regained your memory yet."

Lockhart looked down at his wardrobe, taking in his fanciful robes that any middle-aged witch familiar with him and his past works would no doubt register with their owner. Rather surprisingly, Lockhart's nod of agreement contained no trace of reluctance. "Do what you must."

Harry and Hermione simultaneously stepped forward, each with their wands aimed at Lockhart. The tips of their wands ignited in a hazy white light, which caused the air in front of them to lazily shimmer in the same fashion as smoke being expelled from a burning fire. The shimmering white light emerged from the wands and floated in dreamlike fashion over to Lockhart, encasing him in its confines in a matter of seconds. What followed was a secondary, simpler version of transformation that Polyjuice Potion could not offer.

First of all, Lockhart's wavy blond hair was extended down his forehead enough to cover his eyes, but still allow him a manageable line of sight. Then came Lockhart's robes, which went from flawless and top-of-the-line to ratty and tattered, with patches and dirty spots interspersed all over. In addition, Lockhart's legs shrunk down a few inches, taking some height away. By now, Lockhart looked like an average wizard whom one could see wandering the streets of Diagon Alley daily.

Ian and Ann took in the disguise. "Just one thing," said Ian as he conjured up a hood on the back of Lockhart's robes and pulled it up so that it covered his head.

Harry nodded, satisfied at the veil they had crafted and turned back to face the brick wall. Using his wand, he tapped the sequence of bricks required to gain access to the alley and pretty soon, the bricks began to shift aside of their own accord until there was an open area in front of the group, with the line of shops and the crowded street all of them knew so well in plain sight.

Harry and Hermione shared a look of agreement and they both led the others out into the cobbled street, maneuvering themselves into the mass of moving bodies moving to and fro underneath the sunny sky. The air was abuzz with excited chatter, the topics of discussion ranging from the latest line of Magical Kitchen Appliances to the impending release of the next great racing broom.

It occurred only then to Harry that his and Hermione's presence in Diagon Alley would get people's attention, perhaps even more so than Lockhart given the news of Ginny and Ron's death. Harry and Hermione being seen together in such a public place so soon after such a devastating loss might seem curious to others. But before Harry could say anything to Hermione, he noticed that she was once again casting the charm around them that would make bystanders pass them by without a second thought.

Gradually, Harry and the others made their way down the narrow and crowded path of the alley, past shops bearing potion supplies, broomsticks, items required of Hogwarts students and the Owl Shop. While they were weaving in and out of various pedestrians, a certain feeling struck Harry, and it was the kind of feeling his Auror training told him that something was wrong. While still maintaining his steady pace, Harry looked around him, searching for the watcher he suspected was in the vicinity. However, he was unable to spot anyone whose body language suggested that they were following Harry's group. But then again, Harry asked himself, how could they be followed? Especially since their outward appearance was being misdirected. Harry then forced his mind back to the pressing matter.

Moments later, Harry found himself standing outside Flourish and Blotts and to satisfy himself, he performed one last quick sweep of the area to make sure that their presence remained undetected. Like before, no one was paying them the slightest bit of attention.

What broke Harry out of his state the second time was Lockhart stepping up beside him. "Where did you hide it?" he asked his former professor.

"Second floor," Lockhart responded. "In the section dedicated to my books."

Harry made sure to keep his feeling of slight exasperation at this strictly internal, not wanting to show it on his face. But should he really have been surprised? This was Gilderoy Lockhart after all, the man who put the 'self' back into 'self-obsessed'.

"Okay," Harry replied. "Let's get it."

He made an "after you" gesture with his arm to Lockhart, and Lockhart led the way inside.

The moment Harry crossed the threshold of the bookstore, his nostrils were assaulted by the strong smell of ink and parchment mixed with the aroma of coffee that seemed commonplace for any shop of this kind. For a few moments, Harry understood why books could be of such importance and value to a person like Hermione. He glanced over at her and noticed that despite the urgency of the situation, there was the trace of an expression on Hermione's face that Harry could only describe as peaceful. Without realizing it, he slipped his hand in Hermione's and led her forward.

Ahead, the disguised Lockhart had reached the slender, twisting set of iron steps that led up to the second level of the shop. It was the kind of staircase that would make anyone uneasy about stairs absolutely frightened. The flight of stairs was so narrow that only one person could climb up at a time, and that's what happened.

Fortunately, this seemed to be the slow time of day in terms of business because hardly anybody was in the shop, with absolutely no one on the second floor, which was beneficial. But as Harry took the final curve of the staircase, something in his peripheral vision made him glance over toward the main window. Even though there was nothing outside the window by the time Harry was gazing at it full-on, he could've swore there had been a figure there seconds before, probably staring in Harry's direction. After a few seconds, Harry shrugged it off as merely a pedestrian observing a display.

"What is it?" Hermione had noticed his diverting of his attention. She would have had too, since Harry stopping in his tracks held everybody behind him up.

"Nothing," said Harry as he shook his head a little and climbed the final two steps. "Thought I saw something."

Once he was upstairs, Harry went over to join Lockhart, who was standing still and gazing up at a vast collection of his published works. Harry regarded the books, then regarded Lockhart.

"What book is it?"

Lockhart scanned the lines of book spines, confusion settling in. "I…I'm not sure."

Harry's eyes narrowed as he cocked his head slightly, not entirely sure he heard correctly. "What?"

"I mean, I haven't had my memories back for long, Harry. I just need a minute or two to sift through them."

Harry sighed, glancing over his shoulder at Hermione. "With all due respect, Lockhart, we don't have a lot of time. I understand if you're feeling a little rusty at the moment, but damn it, it's absolutely imperative that you tell us which book you hid your half of the map in _right now_." When Lockhart made visible attempts to search his memory, Harry decided to press further. "C'mon, think. Anything at all?"

Lockhart looked straight ahead at a line of multiple versions of the same book: _Magical Me_. "That one. There's a hollowed-out version, inside of which is the map."

Harry glanced at the books. "Are you sure?"

Lockhart looked Harry dead in the eyes. "Positive."

Harry immediately stepped forward and wasted no time in pulling the copies of Lockhart's autobiography off the shelf, one by one. The first three were all real books, their pages intact and the words inscribed on them further proof. However, the fourth book was what Harry was after. When Harry opened it, he discovered that the pages were not pages, but part of the hollowed-out hiding place Lockhart had described. Inside the hollowed-out area was precisely what Harry was after.

Folded over four times was a piece of weathered yellow parchment that matched the piece Harry currently had in his pocket. Still holding the fake book in his hand, Harry looked up at Hermione, who had come up beside him. They both exchanged the briefest of relieved smirks before Harry reached in and extracted the half of the map.

Draco observed this and cracked a smirk of his own. "Well…look at that. You were actually telling the truth."

"Did you have reason to suspect otherwise?" Lockhart questioned.

Draco arched an eyebrow. "Read one of your books, then get back to me on that."

During this brief exchange, Harry replaced the fake book back on the shelf while pocketing both halves of the map. "Take Lockhart back to St. Mungo's," he said to Ian and Ann. "Explain what happened, and we'll meet you back at Headquarters."

Ian and Ann each nodded their heads and grabbed onto one of Lockhart's arms. But before they could Disapparate, Lockhart cleared his throat.

"Harry…I just want to say thank you for giving me back who I am."

Harry stared right into Lockhart's thankful gaze for a few moments before giving a solitary nod. The next instant, he and Harry's Auror partners were gone in the blink of an eye. Once they were gone, Harry led Hermione and Draco back down the staircase and onto the street outside.

Stepping out onto the pathway of Diagon Alley, Harry performed yet another visual sweep of the area, searching for any indication of followers. To his right, Harry thought he saw someone in a dark cloak surreptitiously observing him from beside a shop window, but a pedestrian passed in front of his line of sight and by the time Harry regained a clear vision, the person was gone. Even though Harry chose to continue on and walk along the Alley with Hermione and Draco, he kept his hand within reach of his wand.

"So what now?" Draco asked as they trekked along, their destination the secret entrance to Auror Headquarters, which was located in Diagon Alley. This secret entrance was near Gringotts Bank and was a secret underground tunnel, much like those one could find in Hogwarts behind paintings and statues. Secrecy was rule number one when you were an Auror.

"We bring the map back to Headquarters and determine where The Book is," Harry replied.

"And then stop your father," Hermione finished.

Draco nodded. "Well, at least we're one step ahead of --…"

He was cut off by a pair of explosions that shattered both the window of the shop beside them and the road beneath their feet. Harry, Hermione and Draco were violently propelled through the air a short distance while quite a few civilians were forced to the ground. Just before they impacted against the pavement, Harry quickly slowed their descent so that their landing wouldn't be as bone-breaking.

Once they were sprawled across the ground, a high ringing combined with the frightened screams of everyone in the Alley filled Harry's ears. Harry shook his head and felt around frantically for his glasses for a few seconds until he found them. After slipping them back on, Harry reached over and helped Hermione to her feet.

With Draco still by their side, Harry and Hermione were met with the sight of countless witches and wizards scrambling in panic all over the place, none of them seeming to be taking a discernible course as they fled. Still holding each other's hands, Harry and Hermione slowly turned as one in the opposite direction and saw what they feared they would see: the same smoky black forms from the warehouse gliding mercilessly towards them.

"RUN!" Harry shouted. He never broke contact with Hermione's hand as he and Draco led the way down the street.

It was an effort navigating through the web of other people in their race to get away from the smoky figures, but Harry and Draco still managed to dodge the multitude of bodies blocking their way. Overhead came the sound of the figures fast approaching, gaining on their targets with each passing second. As they ran, Harry attempted a number of times to Disapparate from the scene, but found that some kind of invisible but powerful force was preventing him from doing so.

"HARRY!"

Hermione's scream made Harry look to his right and come face to face with a scruffy man inside the hazy black smoke, his eyes aquiver with intense malice. Upon seeing this, Harry did the first thing that came to mind, which was to bash his elbow right into the man's face. This sent the guy flying off course and smashing right into a shop window.

Gringotts was coming up straight ahead and it was within view, but so was a second pair of smoky figures flying in from that direction.

Instinct kicked in as Harry reached out with his other hand, grabbed Draco's sleeve, and hauled both him and Hermione into a sharp directional recourse. Behind them, the smoky apparitions took to this sudden change of course rather effortlessly, as all of them glided fluidly straight up into the air in a formation before just as easily coming back down and resuming the chase.

Whipping out his wand quick as a flash, Harry pointed it behind him while keeping his eyes trained ahead of him. Harry wordlessly fired off spells in rapid succession, hoping that any one of them would hit their target. What he didn't see was each figure maneuvering impossibly fast away from each of the spells while still coming after the three young wizards. The other thing Harry didn't see was a burst of flames rocketing out from one of the pursuing figures and igniting the street ahead in a wall of fire.

Thinking fast, Harry used his wand to freeze the flames, turning them from blazing orange to icy blue. With another burst of magical energy, Harry made the frozen flames explode into a shower of ice, ducking down just in time as a chunk flew precariously close over his head. In a flash of movement only an Auror could have performed, Harry then twisted around, still running, and summoned forth a web of light that caused the ice chunks still suspended in midair to explode again on contact, causing there to be a swarm of lethally sharp ice pieces through which the smoky figures were forced to fly through. But if that was to hinder them in any way, it didn't.

Harry, Hermione and Draco kept running, knocking lingering pedestrians aside as they did so.

Something caught Harry's eye at that moment: the detour into Knockturn Alley. Harry and the others took it without thinking.

Immediately, the light surrounding them was lessened considerably, which wasn't surprising since that seemed to be the side effect of entering Knockturn Alley. Ahead, Harry could see the street reserved for the darker aspects of wizardry, at the end of the narrow brick entryway, but suddenly found it blocked by a shadowy form appearing out of nowhere. It was one of the figures. Harry quickly flashed a look to the side they had come through, but that too had one of their pursuers in front of it. They were trapped.

Or maybe not.

As the two silent figures were closing the gap between them, Harry got an idea.

"Give us the map," came a deep, threatening voice. "We know you have it."

"Sorry, chaps," Harry replied snidely, "but you didn't say please."

Harry aimed his wand at the ground and was prepared to shoot off a spell when he was abruptly snatched and dragged up into the air by one of the figures, both of them flying into the sky.

"HARRY!" he heard Hermione shout before a burst of red light flashed beneath his field of vision. Hopefully that had been Draco Stunning the remaining assailant.

But now, Harry focused on his current situation. He and the person who had grabbed him were now spinning through midair a few feet above Knockturn Alley, the constant twisting motion threatening to induce nausea. However, Harry kept that sensation at bay as he and the Dark Wizard began struggling over Harry's wand. Sparks were spilling out of the tip, alighting the Dark Wizard's eyes in a neutrally colored light, as well as Harry's. This wizard looked less scruffy, but equally dangerous.

As both Harry and the wizard gripped the wand tightly, this caused a surge of energy that blew out all of the windows on the alley, in domino-like succession. Everyone on the ground ducked down to avoid both the flying glass and the flying people. After that, the Dark Wizard's strength began to overpower Harry's and Harry felt his wand being pried roughly from his grasp, so he did the first thing that came to mind. He punched the wizard.

The result was both people being released from the spiraling motions and thrown through now-open windows and into shops directly across from one another. The momentum of the landing was enough to send Harry skidding across the floor of the shop until a shelf halted his progression.

Feeling immensely sore, most likely bruised, Harry dragged himself to his feet. The next thing he did was look around frantically for his wand, but it was nowhere to be found. At least, not in the shop.

After Harry had reached the shattered display window, he spotted his wand resting in the middle of the street, directly in between that building and the one across the street. The worst part was that the Dark Wizard had recovered from the fall as well, and was eyeing Harry's wand just the same. As their gazes met each other, time seemed to slow to a halt and any noise was drowned out by an invisible force.

With cat-like agility, Harry leapt out through the window and hit the street rolling. Once he was close enough, Harry scooped up his wand and rolled over onto his back, bringing his wand up to aim steadily at the Dark Wizard's stomach at the precise moment a jagged silver blade was pressed against Harry's throat.

Both men regarded their situation.

"Hand it over," the Dark Wizard snarled, his teeth pressed together tightly.

"Not bloody likely," Harry spat back. He then felt the tip of the blade begin to tear away delicately at his skin, releasing a thin trail of blood. But the action was stopped just as fast as it had started.

"RICTUSEMPRA!"

A jet of light purple lifted the Dark Wizard off of Harry and sent him flying end over end a few feet until he was thrown onto the ground.

Harry wiped away the blood from his throat before twisting around and raising himself up on one elbow to see Hermione standing not far away. Her wand was still leveled out in front of her from when she had cast the spell.

Harry picked himself back up, wincing slightly from the pain induced by his dive into the shop. He rubbed his right side as Hermione and Draco dashed over to him.

"Are you hurt?" Hermione asked concernedly.

"A bit, but it's nothing a couple spells can't fix."

"Do you still have the map?" Draco inquired.

"Yeah," said Harry as he reached into both his pockets. "Both parts are st--…" He stopped mid-sentence, his face slackening in shock as his right hand was greeted with the feel of rough weathered parchment, but his left merely grabbed at empty air and the inner lining of his pants.

Harry whirled around and he raised his wand along with Hermione and Draco. But they were all met with the sight of the Dark Wizard racing down the alleyway, his retreating form getting further away by the minute. Without a single ounce of hesitation, they all gave chase.

Stragglers still hanging around the area all watched curiously as the four people ran at full-speed down the alleyway. Ahead, Harry could see a mountainous, solid black brick wall that forced the street to end. But if the Dark Wizard planned on doing what Harry was thinking he would, then they needed to close the distance between them, and fast.

But they were too late. Seconds before Harry, Hermione and Draco could reach him, the Dark Wizard smirked triumphantly while holding up his prize. With a whish of his cloak, the wizard evaporated into his smoky form and glided up into the air. By this time, Harry had reached the brick wall, staring up at the vanishing black form. He pounded his fists against the brick wall in frustration.

"Damn it!"

Their hope of recovering The Book had just been taken away from them mere minutes after it had been presented. With only one half of the map in their possession, they were at an impasse. But then again, so was Malfoy.

Harry turned back around.

"I take it we're not going back to Headquarters, then?" said Draco rather glumly.

"Afraid not," replied Harry. "We need to find an alternative solution."

Draco raised an eyebrow. "So what do you suggest?"

"There must be records of The Book that can help us just as well as a map could, give us clues as to where it is. We'll need access to such records."

"And where do you propose we look for those records?"

Harry turned to Hermione, whose eyes suddenly widened in realization. "The only place we know of that has such an extensive archive."

Harry nodded and regarded Draco once more. "How do you feel about going back to school?"


	16. The Legend of Excalibur

CHAPTER SIXTEEN

_**THE LEGEND OF EXCALIBUR**_

Hogwarts looked no different than it did the day Harry saw it last. The late afternoon sun was reflected in the many windows of the vast castle, an image as familiar to Harry as a renowned painting. In fact, the sight of Hogwarts Castle resting peacefully underneath the light blue sky, its grounds devoid of any students or teachers, seemed the perfect inspiration for a picture. At this precise moment, everything grand and magnificent about the school was in plain sight. There were absolutely no signs that a devastating battle had occurred there two years ago.

As Harry stood at the main gate, he was flooded with memories of his days spent in the castle as a student, days that seemed a lifetime ago. Beyond the gate at the main entrance of the castle, the front doors opened just a crack to allow a figure to slip through and walk out onto the grounds.

With emerald robes and the immediately recognizable witches' hat, Harry was able to see that it was his former teacher Headmistress Minerva McGonagall making their way towards them.

Harry, Hermione and Draco all stepped back as the gate swung open of its own accord right before McGonagall reached it.

She eyed the three former students with obvious respect, Harry and Hermione more so than Draco. "I received your owl," McGonagall said, getting straight to the point as always. "You mentioned it related to an Auror mission?"

"Yes," replied Harry. "But it'd be best if we discussed it further inside."

"Very well."

McGonagall proceeded to lead them up the walkway and into Hogwarts, the doors creaking shut behind them. Due to it being late June, term had ended by this time so the castle was relatively silent, devoid of the usual chatter of students as they made their way to and from class. Sunlight streamed in through windows and suits of armor were stationed at precisely the same places Harry remembered them being, now motionless compared to the time of the Battle when they had all sprung to life to help in the resistance.

Each open classroom and each connecting hallway induced brief flashes of moments from Harry's education, both fond and unpleasant. For instance, he remembered his first-ever lessons, as well as his frequent bouts with Draco. Even though they were nowhere near the Dungeons by now, Harry recalled the time where a heated duel between him and Draco had resulted in Hermione's two front teeth expanding in size at an accelerated rate, and how Ron had rushed to her side—

Harry stopped there. Bringing up Ron was still too painful.

Hermione seemed to notice that what was going through Harry's mind was registering on his face, because she slipped her hand softly into his as they walked the hallway leading to the gargoyle guarding the entrance to the Headmaster's Office. Harry erased all traces of the memory from his mind and gave Hermione's hand a grateful squeeze.

"I must confess some surprise upon receiving your owl," McGonagall reported as they got closer to the gargoyle. "But I'm more than willing to help in any capacity I can." She paused in front of the guarded entrance. "Whiskers," she stated plainly.

Every Headmaster or Headmistress of Hogwarts needed to come up with passwords to use to get into their chambers, and those passwords could be changed at any time they deemed necessary. These passwords usually tended to reflect the personal pleasures of the Headmaster or Headmistress. Under Dumbledore's administration, the passwords tended to be names of candy. It made sense that McGonagall would choose terms related to her Animagus form, a cat.

Upon hearing the password, the gargoyle leapt aside, allowing access to a spiraling stone staircase. Once again, McGonagall took the lead as they all climbed upwards to reach the Headmasters' Office.

The office was just the way Harry remembered it, with nary a thing modified or out of place. As usual, the walls were lined with portraits of all the previous Headmasters of the school and all of them conveyed warm greetings to Harry and Hermione. But the portrait Harry's eyes were drawn to was the one that mattered to him most: that of Professor Albus Dumbledore. Dumbledore's portrait smiled down at Harry.

"Have a seat, please." McGonagall gestured over at the high-backed chairs in front of the desk. Harry and Hermione took them, while Draco chose to stand beside the wall, his arms crossed and his shoulder propped against the stone foundation. McGonagall then occupied her chair once everyone was situated. "Now, what's this all about?"

Harry then recounted his involvement in this whole affair, up until that point. It was with forced control that he described Ron and Ginny dying, and he noticed sadness reflect itself in McGonagall's eyes when he said this, at the same time he reached for Hermione's hand. Harry noticed that this didn't escape McGonagall's attention, but she didn't say anything. Harry continued on with the story until it was finished and when it was, silence hung in the air.

It was broken by McGonagall. "So you're here to see if the Library has any information pertaining to The Book."

Harry nodded. "It seems that such a powerful artifact would have records of its existence. This is the first place that came to mind when I considered where such information would be kept."

"We do indeed have books concerning Arthurian legend as well as Merlin himself. Any reference to what you're looking for would most likely be in those."

"I don't suppose you'd know anything more _specific_ that could help us, Professor?" asked Hermione.

"I'm afraid not, Hermione. As you said, The Book's secrets seem to be entrusted only to those who have received the honor of the Order of Merlin."

Harry was suddenly struck with an idea and he quickly looked up at Dumbledore's portrait, but Dumbledore seemed to have anticipated Harry's question. "I know what you want to ask, Harry, but I'm afraid I'm of no use. You see, when I died, any and all pieces of information relating to The Book of Merlin died with me. It's one of the oldest forms of magical protection, and a rather effective one. It prevents the wrong people from gaining such information in the exact position you're in now."

Harry sighed. "Thanks anyway, Professor." He turned his attention to Hermione. "It seems research is our only option."

Hermione gave him a slight smile. "And that's my area of expertise."

"So we need the Library." Harry checked his watch. It was just past sundown. "Tell you what. Why don't we start in the morning?" Hermione nodded in agreement at this, as did Draco. "Professor –…"

"You're more than welcome to stay the night. Or indefinitely, depending on how long it takes you to find what you're after." McGonagall's tone contained kindness and understanding. "There are private quarters you can use."

Minutes later, Harry and his two partners found themselves yet again treading the halls of Hogwarts, which were now bathed in the orange hue of torchlight combined with the pale blue moonlight drifting in from outside. During the walk, Harry and Hermione had slipped their arms around one another without realizing it. The excitement and constant adrenaline of the day seemed to have finally caught up with them. But the action was noticed by McGonagall, who had fallen into step beside them.

"How are the two of you handling all of this?" she asked rather casually.

It was then that Harry and Hermione noticed their position, and both of them let their arms fall by their sides with half-embarrassed expressions on their faces.

"Er…," Harry began,"…it's not quite what you may think."

"And what is it that I would think, Harry?" McGonagall's voice still contained no traces of accusation, which was a bit surprising.

"That we're doing Ron and Ginny's memory a disservice by getting together so soon after their deaths," Hermione answered.

"Look, Professor, Hermione and I…becoming a couple isn't just the result of emotional distress. It's something that should've happened a long time ago."

Just then, they all stepped onto a moving staircase, which began gliding towards another level of the castle.

"Understandable," said McGonagall. "But quite honestly, I'm surprised that it took this long for it to happen." Harry and Hermione gave McGonagall slightly surprised looks before the Headmistress quickly added, "Although, of course I wish it had occurred under better circumstances."

After Harry and Hermione nodded briefly and grimly in agreement, they found themselves off of the staircase and standing in front of the all too familiar portrait of the Fat Lady.

If the Fat Lady recognized the two former Gryffindors, she didn't show it, as she promptly requested a password and McGonagall supplied it. The Fat Lady swung open, revealing the path into Gryffindor Tower.

It was setting foot in the Common Room that made Harry truly feel like he was home again. A fire was already roaring and the various bits of furniture were in exactly the same positions as Harry remembered them being. From the look on Hermione's face, Harry could see that she felt the same way.

"There's a private dormitory the two of you can use while Mr. Malfoy can use a similar one in the Slytherin chambers," explained McGonagall.

"But why can't I stay here?" asked Draco.

"Because once a person is Sorted into a certain house, a sort of invisible imprint is left on them that would prevent things such as taking up residence in another House dormitory, however brief that may be." She crossed the room to reveal a hidden doorway in the wall, where the handle was crafted into the wood. McGonagall twisted the handle and pulled the door open, and she, Harry and Hermione walked inside the newly revealed secret dormitory while Draco opted to wait outside.

The private chamber was decorated in a fashion similar to that of a luxurious penthouse suite. A wall-length window provided a clear view of the castle grounds, which were now blanketed with the darkness of evening. Another doorway on the far left wall led into a bathroom, and next to that doorway was a plush-looking bed big enough for two people, adorned with red and gold sheets. A ceiling lamp bearing an uncanny resemblance to a chandelier hung down into the room, being the primary source of light. The final noteworthy feature of the private room was the dresser that stood a few inches to the right of the bed, complete with grooming accessories and a mirror attached to the wall.

"Get some rest, you two," McGonagall said to Harry and Hermione with the air of a caring mother. "I'll inform the other professors of your presence here. I'm sure they'll want to assist you in any way they can."

"Thank you again, Professor," replied Hermione as Harry walked over to the bed. "We hope our stay here won't be too long."

"Take as long as you have to. Your task is of the utmost importance." McGonagall turned and began to glide out of the room, but stopped and faced Harry and Hermione once more. "Good luck," she added rather encouragingly before fully exiting the bedroom, leaving Harry and Hermione alone.

The two of them set about getting ready for more rest by going about the normal nighttime routine. By the time Harry had changed into pajamas, washed up and brushed his teeth, he found Hermione standing at the window, gazing out at the grounds with her trademark thoughtful expression. Harry approached her from behind and put his hand gently on the small of her tank top-clad back.

"Something wrong?" he asked.

"There's a traitor," Hermione stated plainly. "Like we suspected. It's the only explanation."

Harry removed his hand as Hermione swiveled to face him. "Yeah," he sighed, running his hand now through his hair. "I agree."

"How else would Malfoy have known to send his people to Diagon Alley today? Only a select few knew what we were doing, and that narrows down the possibilities considerably."

Harry nodded grimly. "Ian, Ann or Barnes."

"Don't leave out Marcus. Being your Handler, I doubt he'd ever be unaware of your activities." Hermione walked over to the bed.

Harry followed her. He could tell what she was leaving unsaid. "You want us to act outside of Auror protocol again, don't you?"

"It makes sense. Cut off somebody's ears, and they become deaf."

"It's risky, Hermione. What if the situation calls for what could be deemed illegal?"

"We just make sure not to get caught."

The response made Harry look at Hermione with inquisitive eyes. In all the time he knew Hermione, she had never been one willing to break the rules, save for the rare occasions when it was absolutely necessary.

"Curious," said Harry. "That's not something you would've said three or four years ago."

Hermione shrugged. "People change, as do their perspectives."

"You're starting to think like an Auror." Harry planted himself beside her on the bed.

"Then perhaps it's time I considered an alternative career." Hermione undid the locket around her neck, the locket Ron gave her, and fingered its smooth silver surface. "Maybe it's time I leave the past behind me." She made to toss the locket in the bin sitting beside the dresser, but Harry took her hand before she could and slid the locket out of her fingers.

"Perhaps not just yet. We need to keep in mind why we're doing this." He placed the locket on top of the dresser, right beside the memory vial. He faced her again. "Never lose sight of your purpose." Harry paused. "Do you really want to become an Auror?"

"With Ron gone, you'll need a partner you can fully trust. After what we've been through so far, I understand how difficult being an Auror can get. But I'm up to the task…if you'll have me."

Harry hesitated. Having Hermione become an Auror was something he wasn't particularly keen on, but he knew that Hermione wouldn't want him to play the role of compassionate boyfriend, at least not at this moment. "When this is all over, if you still feel the same way, then who am I to stop you?" Harry, still holding Hermione's hand, gave it an affectionate and reassuring squeeze.

After that, Harry and Hermione settled themselves under the comfortably inviting bedsheets and within minutes, were both hypnotized into a deep sleep that was free of unsettling dreams for a change.

* * *

Upon three straight hours of reading words on book pages, Harry found that every notation was beginning to blur together. He, Hermione and Draco had been combing through Hogwarts' plethora of information long enough that they should have found answers by now, but all they received thus far had been repetition and boredom.

Harry shut the book in front of him with a reverberating rumble and got to his feet. "Still nothing," he muttered dully.

"Just keep going," Hermione replied encouragingly, clearly trying to keep his hopes up. She watched Harry take the book back to the shelf from which it came and retrieve another. "Trust me, we're not going to find what we're looking for that fast.

Harry returned to the table with his new book, entitled _Medieval Magic: A Timeline of Merlin_. He opened to a random page and began scanning, but a pointed look from Hermione made him turn back to the Table of Contents and then choose a place to randomly start. Harry missed the half-smirk Hermione gave him before she went back to her text.

Draco, meanwhile, leaned back in his chair and rubbed his eyes. "Are we sure we even _can_ find an answer here?"

"This is Hogwarts," Hermione said simply. "There's no other resource as convenient or as extensive."

"Don't argue with her," Harry chimed in casually, his eyes remaining glued to the pages. "She has a point."

Draco closed his own book. "I'm just saying…when are we going to get somewhere?"

"Now."

Harry turned the book he had around so that Hermione and Draco could read what he had found. But in the end, both Harry and Draco circled around to stand on either side of Hermione.

Hermione began reading aloud. "During his reign, King Arthur formed an alliance with one of the wizards who is believed to have helped shape the magical community into what it is today, Merlin himself. In fact, it has been long rumored that the majority of King Arthur's victories may be attributed, in part, to Merlin's vast power as a wizard. Legend holds that Arthur came to Merlin one day, requesting that he create a weapon that could be used to destroy opposing forces. In return, Merlin made a Book, in which he recorded his most powerful spells, both light and dark."

"Manuscripts written by Merlin reveal that King Arthur did indeed wield the power of The Book in battle, but these instances fail to turn up in history records because Merlin made it a point to erase all traces of such events from the memories of the survivors of the opposing armies, therefore eliminating the possibility of word of The Book spreading. Merlin also swore Arthur and his knights to secrecy. But somehow, information leaked, as Merlin's records indicate a sudden attack on Camelot, during which The Book was stolen. Merlin chose to accompany Arthur and his knights on the quest to recover The Book, a quest which proved successful."

"So this isn't the first time people have chased after The Book," remarked Draco.

"I'm not surprised," said Harry. "Go on," he told Hermione.

Hermione resumed reading. "After The Book was brought back, Merlin decided that it was too powerful and too capable of inciting bloodshed for any one man to posses. So he did two things. First, he created a secret underground chamber somewhere in England and hid The Book inside. To ensure The Book's protection, Merlin installed a series of traps in the chamber, so that anyone who _did_ find the chamber would still have to prove themselves worthy."

"It doesn't say where this secret chamber is?" asked Harry.

Hermione flipped the page and frowned. "No."

"Damn!" spat Draco. "So we still need the other half of the map."

"Wait, there's more!" proclaimed Hermione. "It's not about The Book or the chamber, but it's equally important. Listen to this: Merlin's protection of The Book didn't stop there. Merlin made one more thing for King Arthur, and this item is more widely known: the sword Excalibur."

"Wait," interrupted Draco. "Is this implying…?"

"Just listen. Merlin forged the steel of the sword himself, and inlaid it with many powerful spells. Not only did this contribute to Excalibur being such a powerful weapon, it also made the sword the one thing to possess the power to destroy The Book if need be. Merlin's manuscripts also tell us that Excalibur retains its power because the hilt of the sword had a secret groove big enough for a witch or wizard's wand. In this case, Merlin placed his own wand in the hilt so that when used against Dark Magic, Excalibur would be able to channel the magic Merlin inscribed into the sword and combat the Dark forces."

"Does it say where Excalibur is now?" Harry inquired, leaning down closer to the text.

"After King Arthur died," Hermione pressed on, "Merlin took back Excalibur and hid it in The Silver Castle, a castle located in England where the entire outside structure is composed of pure, solid silver, nobody can find it to this day. Experts on Arthurian legend have concluded that either The Silver Castle has protections on it similar to those on Hogwarts, or that it's simply invisible."

Hermione leaned back in her chair and exhaled heavily. "I need to take a moment and wrap my head around all this."

"The feeling's mutual," said Harry.

A thoughtful silence followed, which lasted a few minutes.

"So it appears we have two options," Draco said, breaking the silence. "One, we find a way to get the other half of the map from my father or two, we look for The Silver Castle and Excalibur so we'll secretly have the means to defeat The Book." Draco gave both Harry and Hermione thoughtful looks. "What do you think?"

Harry and Hermione shared a look of their own, and in that look was their unspoken agreement.

"We keep our focus on The Book," stated Harry.

"Yes, we've made more progress on that front and have more to go on than an invisible castle." Hermione crossed her arms. "So it would seem we need to somehow strike a deal with your father, Draco."

"But even I have no idea how to contact him."

Just then, the doors of the Library opened and in walked Professor McGonagall, accompanied by Marcus and Barnes.

"I'm sorry to intrude, you three, but Mr. Barnes and Mr. Bloom say it's urgent."

Harry walked over to Marcus and Barnes and noticed that Marcus had a small mirror in his hand. It looked like the two-way mirror Harry had been given by Sirius in his fifth year. "What is it?"

"Someone wants to have a word with you," replied Marcus as he handed the mirror to Harry.

The mirror was indeed two-way, because staring out at Harry through the reflective surface was the face of none other than Lucius Malfoy.

"Ah, there you are, Potter," Malfoy drawled. "It's about time."

"What do you want, Malfoy?" Harry asked curtly, getting straight to the point. Behind him, he sensed Hermione walk up to his shoulder.

"It seems we're in a bit of a conundrum, here. I propose we meet with each other to discuss what we do next. Where are you now?"

"Hogwarts."

Malfoy's mouth twisted up in a sneer. "Perfect. I'll come to you. Meet me in the Great Hall in half an hour, and come unarmed. It'd be best if we talk business without the distraction of wands. But do bring your half of the map."

Suddenly, his face disappeared from the mirror, and Harry was left staring at his own scowl.


	17. Into Thin Air

CHAPTER SEVENTEEN

_**INTO THIN AIR**_

As always, the enchanted ceiling of the Great Hall mirrored the actual forecast outside, and in this case, it was a beautiful sunny day.

Harry stepped through the open doorway of the Great Hall and was met with the sight of Lucius Malfoy's gloriously blond hair glinting in the sunlight from above. He was standing just in front of the table where the professors normally sat, more specifically in front of the chair reserved for Hogwarts' Headmaster. As if he sensed Harry's arrival, Malfoy turned around in one swift motion and revealed a face set in stone.

"So pleased you could accept my invitation," Malfoy stated plainly.

Harry chose not to reply verbally, but instead held up his half of the map. Likewise, Malfoy silently gestured toward the table to the left of Harry, where the other half of the map lay. After Harry set down his part, he approached Malfoy so that both of them were now at the head of the Great Hall.

"You said you had a proposition. Let's hear it," said Harry.

"Right to the point. That's something I admire in a man. Shall we sit?" With a wave of his cane, Malfoy made the teachers' table sweep to the far wall.

Harry eyed the Headmaster's chair with suspicious eyes, his thoughts that Malfoy would callously occupy it evident in his gaze. But Malfoy answered the unspoken demand.

"Don't worry, Potter. I have no intention of sitting there." He glided over to the chair on the immediate left and sat down. "I prefer here. Where I always wanted to be when the Dark Lord was still alive. And where I sit _now_ under the new regime."

Never breaking his penetrating stare, Harry slowly sat down in the Headmaster's chair, and in that instant he felt a brief surge of the kind of authority people like McGonagall must feel when in the same position. He liked it, he admitted to himself.

"And what regime is that?" he asked.

Malfoy sneered in an annoyingly superior manner. "All in good time. Now, let's discuss our business. Obviously, neither of us is going to get anywhere while we each posses pieces of a fractured map. So I'm suggesting we make the map whole again. We can be partners."

Harry couldn't help but crack a cynical smile. "Partners? Find The Book together? And what would happen after we found it? I'm assuming neither one of us will give it up quite so easily."

"That's why we have wands. It all goes back to the age-old tradition: the fastest and the strongest reaps the benefits." Malfoy stared long and hard at Harry's inquisitive face. "You may not like it, and neither do I, but it's the only option at the moment that doesn't involve the repetitive exchange of spells."

Something Malfoy said caused Harry to shift his head to an angle in curiosity. "Did you come up with this plan yourself…or was it your superior, whoever that may be?"

"Too many questions. This is a limited time offer, and now is the only instance when it's available."

Harry glanced down the Hall toward where both halves of the map were. The compulsion to snatch them up and run as fast as he could briefly flickered through his mind, but he dismissed the idea just as quickly. Harry really didn't want to instigate yet another battle, and in Hogwarts no less. For the moment, he'd play along with Malfoy.

"So if you're supplying the map," said Harry, "where does that leave me?"

"I believe you still have the emerald triangle in your possession?"

Malfoy was right. Even though past events had caused all thoughts relating to the triangle to slip out of his mind, Harry nonetheless recalled the triangle that pointed the way to the Book once it was placed on top of the map. The triangle was useless without the map, hence why Malfoy had proposed a temporary partnership.

"Yes. But it's back at Auror Headquarters."

"Then get it over here. Now," sighed Malfoy as he lifted himself from his chair, "let's have a look at that map."

Harry got up as well and made a point of neither walking too much in front of him nor too much behind. Once they had reached the map, each of them stood a good distance apart. Without speaking a word, Harry and Malfoy both scooped up their respective halves and held them inches apart.

Slowly, they brought each half closer, the gap in between closing at a steady rate. Not long after, a sort of powerful magnetism brought both halves together; Harry and Malfoy just made sure to hold on tight as this occurred. The instant each half of the map connected, a bright golden light flashed from the tear line and when it faded, the weathered parchment had undergone a most curious change.

Before now, the markings on the map which indicated the Book's resting place had been completely immobile, much like every other ordinary inky engraving. However, the recent bringing together of the map halves seemed to have awakened a spell woven into the parchment, and now the markings were shimmering around like wisps of black smoke. The only problem about this was that these movements made the area the map was indicating nearly impossible to make out.

Harry exchanged a look with Malfoy.

"This is why we need the triangle," he stated plainly.

"Then follow me," Harry replied just as dryly, picking up the map and holding it tight as he guided Malfoy out of the Great Hall.

Together, Harry and Malfoy navigated the halls of Hogwarts, climbing stone staircases and passing through pathways flanked by suits of armor on either side. Finally, they strolled through the entrance to the Library, where Hermione and the others were still waiting.

Upon seeing Lucius Malfoy, Marcus and Barnes automatically went for their wands, but Harry gestured for them to stand down.

"He's working with us."

"Under what capacity?" Barnes inquired in a razor-sharp voice.

"I'll let him explain the details," replied Harry as he moved closer to Marcus. He pulled Marcus a few inches away from Barnes. "I need you to go back to Headquarters, retrieve the emerald triangle we brought in and bring it back here."

"I assume it's part of a deal you and Malfoy worked out?"

"Yes," said Harry as he glanced over at Barnes and Malfoy, who were having a hard time carrying on a conversation without the urge to blast one another into tiny bits.

"Consider it done. I'll be back shortly." Marcus Disapparated with the obligatory cracking sound.

With Marcus handling the triangle, Harry walked over to where Hermione and Draco were standing.

"So what lie did my father tell you to get you to work with him?" Draco said nastily as he shot an equally venomous look toward Lucius.

"Take it easy. He merely provided a solution to our problem."

Draco scoffed. "And you actually believed him?"

"He handed over the other half of the map, so we now have something to work from. But we still need the triangle we stole earlier."

"You actually intend to bring Malfoy along to find The Book?" asked Hermione, genuinely surprised. "Harry, I have to agree with Draco. What would stop him from killing you once he has it?"

"Strength in numbers," Harry replied. "That's why the two of you are coming along."

Both Hermione and Draco looked uneasy about this whole proposition.

"Look, the quicker we find The Book, the quicker we can end this. I don't like this anymore than either of you, but what other choice do we have?"

"Arrest him!" snapped Draco. "We have him _right here_, with the Head of the Auror Department! Take him into custody, and once Marcus returns with the triangle, we can find The Book by ourselves."

"I admire your thinking," came the voice of Barnes. Harry turned around and discovered that he had suddenly appeared by his side. "But there's one problem. Lucius Malfoy claims he's already been to the site, and it appears one can't gain access without the triangle. That's why he came to us."

"And let me guess," said Hermione, "he won't give up the location unless we agree to lend him our help?"

Barnes nodded.

With another _crack!_ Marcus reappeared with the emerald triangle tucked under his left arm and flanked by three other Aurors.

Marcus handed the triangle to Harry. "I figured you'd need the help."

"So what do you want me to do?" Harry asked Barnes once the triangle was clutched firmly in his grasp.

Barnes glanced over at Malfoy, who was currently being watched like a hawk by McGonagall. "Proceed," he said after a pause. "But when you get The Book, you bring that bastard in."

As everybody went about preparing for the departure, Hermione took Harry to the side with a concerned expression on her face. "I know you too well, Harry. What's your plan?"

"What are you talking about?"

"You would never go into a situation like this without being prepared. "

Harry smirked. "Just follow my lead."

He knew that Hermione wished to question him further, but Malfoy beckoned over to him.

Harry departed Hermione's company to join Marcus and the three other Aurors. It was then that Harry noticed who they were: Ian, Ann and Rene Garrett. He guessed his mind had been too preoccupied before to register their identities.

"Harry, Mr. Garrett offered to accompany you, given his knowledge of Arthurian legend. It may just come in handy," Marcus informed him.

Hermione had joined them by this point.

"Okay." Harry turned to Garrett. "Mr. Garrett, I'll need you to verify that where the map leads us is both safe and genuine. Something tells me this may all be a ruse, and if it is, we need to know."

"Of course," said Garrett. "Whatever I can do to help. And please, call me Rene."

Malfoy called over to them. "Are we going, or are we just going to stand around and discuss it?"

"He's right," stated Marcus. "Go. And tell us once you have The Book. We'll be waiting for an update."

Harry nodded and led his team over to Malfoy, who stood waiting with the map spread across a desk. He held out his hands for the triangle, which Harry gave to him.

"How does this work?" asked Harry.

"I'll show you, rather than wasting my breath."

Malfoy flipped the triangle so that the tip pointed downward and carefully touched the tip to the center of the map. The instant the two objects made contact, the triangle jerked, causing Malfoy to remove his hands from its sides. Not only was the triangle now standing upside down of its own accord, its emerald exterior was glowing brightly.

The triangle then began to slowly move along the surface of the map, dragged along by an invisible force. Harry and his team watched in keen interest as the triangle moved around, never straying too far from the center area. At last, the triangle locked into place not far from where it had started and as Harry came closer to get a better look, he noticed something: that the squiggly and indecipherable outlines on the map had now become rigid and readable.

Harry gazed down into the triangle, where the bottom provided a magnified view of what it was pointing at. Through the glowing emerald haze, he could make out the miniscule drawing of a castle with the word "_Scotland_" written underneath it. Harry straightened up and turned to Barnes.

"Looks like the intelligence you received a while back was right."

Hermione stepped up beside Harry and took her turn to look into the triangle. "Okay, so the next question is how do we get there?" She regarded Garrett, who had also come up to inspect the map. "Rene? You're the expert here. Do you know anything about this?"

"I do. We need to all touch the triangle and in turn, we'll be transported to the castle."

Without another word, everyone who was going along on the trip stepped up to the desk, surrounding it on all sides. Simultaneously, everyone reached out and touched part of the triangle.

Instantaneously, everyone felt the familiar pulling sensation of a Portkey overtake them, and the next thing they knew, they were standing inside a dimly-lit stone chamber with few windows and even more dully flickering torches. As they all started to get their bearings, both the map and the triangle, which was tucked inside the map, fell to the ground in front of Harry's feet. Harry stooped down and picked them up.

Everyone else, meanwhile, was occupied with observing their surroundings. Their footsteps echoed off the walls, but that noise did nothing to fight off the overpowering silence that hung in the air.

Only Hermione saw Harry cast a spell on the triangle that caused an identical one to appear in the crook of his other arm. Harry then shrunk the original down to a small enough size so that it fit in his pocket. After he did all of this, Harry caught Hermione's eye and they shared a knowing smirk.

"Rene," Harry called over to Garrett. "What do you think?"

Garrett was standing in front of a part of the wall beside a torch and looking at the stone foundation with keen eyes. Something was carved into the wall. It was the letter "M", stenciled in an elegant and thin fashion, and it seemed to glimmer in the firelight.

"Yep, we're in the right place," Garrett replied.

"Potter," barked Malfoy from across the chamber. "Over there." He pointed toward the far wall, where Harry could make out a depression in the stone. A depression, he figured, big enough for the triangle to fit into.

Harry and Hermione led the way over to the wall and paused directly in front of the depression. Harry lifted the triangle, facing up, as Malfoy came up right by his side. With interested eyes, Malfoy watched as Harry gracefully placed the triangle into the depression; it fit perfectly.

Shrugging his shoulders in a "What the hell?" kind of fashion, Harry pressed hard against the triangle and seconds later, a rumbling sound filled the air. As the wall now containing the triangle began to shift to the right, everybody took a collective step back until the secret doorway had finished moving.

Harry withdrew his wand and lit the tip while the others followed suit. Harry made to walk into the recently revealed antechamber, but was halted by Ian placing his arm on his shoulder.

"Let us go in first and check it out."

After a moment of consideration, Harry nodded in acquiescence.

Ian and Ann, wands at the ready, stepped into the antechamber as one. They turned in a full circle as they carefully inspected everything they could. Ian and Ann turned back to face Harry.

"Clear," said Ann.

Harry and Hermione had barely taken two steps forward when it happened. One moment, Ian and Ann were there standing in the antechamber, but the next they had vanished into thin air.

"No!"

Harry, Hermione, Draco and Garrett all raced inside the antechamber to find no traces of Ian and Ann left at all.

The familiar rumbling sound caused Harry to twirl around and see the stone door closing and Lucius Malfoy standing in the narrowing gap holding up the triangle and the map, which had been dropped from Harry's grasp.

"I'll be taking this, if you don't mind."

With that, Malfoy Disapparated just as the stone panel had slid completely back into place, trapping Harry and the others inside. Draco ran over and tried to pull it back, but it was a futile effort.

From above, sunlight from a hole in the ceiling poured down and lit the empty antechamber, where there was no Book of Merlin anywhere to be seen.

"That son of a bitch led us right into a trap!" cursed Hermione as sparks flew out of the tip of her wand.

"I should have listened to my instincts," muttered Harry angrily.

"How are we going to get out of here?" asked Draco.

"And where did Ian and Ann go?" Hermione added.

Harry walked to the center of the antechamber, where a solitary length of rope hung from the high ceiling. Hermione and Draco immediately joined him.

"Looks like we're climbing."

But before anyone could do anything, the ground beneath their feet suddenly turned soft and Harry, Hermione and Draco began sinking into the floor, which had now become a swamp of icky and thick green goo. The only person who remained standing on solid ground was Garrett, who was just outside the perimeter of the swamp.

Harry desperately lunged for the rope, but it was now out of his reach. The goo was quickly enveloping him and the others.

"Rene!" he shouted. "Do something!"

"Hang on!" Garrett called back.

Garrett pointed his wand at the dangling rope and made a movement that caused the rope to swing his way. He grabbed the rope and then propelled himself as best he could so that he swung out into the center of the antechamber, just above Harry.

Harry, meanwhile, lifted his goo-covered arms out of the swamp and grabbed both Hermione's arm and she in turn took Draco's. By now, all three of them were nearly entirely submerged.

With his free hand, Harry grabbed Garrett's and it nearly slipped out of the older wizard's grasp. But Garrett managed to retain his hold.

"Hold on tight!" Garrett grunted as he used the hand of his that both clutched his wand and the rope to cast another spell that made the rope fly upward.

As a result, Harry, Hermione and Draco were pulled out of the goo, but the substance still covered their clothes. To Harry, it felt like a mixture of maple syrup and glue. Suffice it to say, a very yucky sensation.

Within a matter of seconds, they had reached the ceiling and were tossed onto the narrow roof space. After shaking his head, Harry helped Hermione to her feet and they surveyed the far-reaching country landscape of Scotland that such a vantage point provided.

"What now?" Hermione inquired, taking in her slime-covered appearance.

"My father has both items now," snarled Draco. "It's only a matter of time before he finds The Book."

"He doesn't have the triangle," said Harry as he reached into his pocket. He had to sift through a bit of slime before he managed to extract the shrunken triangle.

"So you switched them?" asked Garrett. "Malfoy has a decoy?"

Harry nodded. "We need to get back to Headquarters and find out what we just went through down there."

"I can save you the trouble and tell you myself," Garrett offered. "And if you come by my house, you can wash up."

The prospect of getting clean made Hermione nod at Harry, who in turn nodded to Garrett.

"Okay. Let's get out of here."


	18. Rene Garrett

CHAPTER EIGHTEEN

_**RENE GARRETT**_

It was only after Harry had stepped out of the shower, dried himself off and put on clothes of his that came from Hermione's trusty handbag that he began to admire the interior of Rene Garrett's house.

The Senior Ministry Staff member actually lived on the same street that Number Twelve Grimmauld Place was located on, and despite Garrett's repeated offers, Harry had decided that he and Hermione and Draco would spare him the trouble and spend the night there.

Garrett's house itself was a bit larger than Number Twelve, with three stories to it and an interior design suited for a King. The floors and walls were spotless and every room was elegantly designed, each one containing items that defined Rene Garrett's taste. From what Harry could gather, the former Auror turned politician preferred everything he owned to be top-of-the-line and he wasn't shy about showing off his accolades. There were numerous photos of him with various high-ranking Ministry members adorning the walls of most of the rooms.

Taking in his clean new scent and look, Harry descended the stairs leading to the first floor of the house. Hermione was waiting for him at the bottom, having already taken a shower. Together, they walked down the hallway leading to Garrett's study.

Garrett and Draco were already waiting there. The study wasn't anything special, just your average room with walls hidden by bookshelves that were full and a roaring fireplace that caused comforting warmth to spread throughout the room. Draco was seated in an armchair by the fire while Garrett was standing over a table holding drinks and glasses.

Garrett handed Harry a full glass of Firewhiskey, which Harry took gratefully. Harry downed the liquid in one large gulp, reveling in the burning sensation it left in his throat. Beside him, Hermione had downed her own glass. Harry accepted a second, as did Hermione.

The three of them stalked over to the furniture situated in front of the fireplace, and the first thing Harry realized was the resemblance it bore to the Gryffindor Common Room. He and Hermione took the couch while Garrett claimed the remaining armchair.

"So do you mind telling us exactly what the bloody hell happened back there?" said Harry. "Were we even in a castle?"

Garrett sighed and rubbed his temple. "I should have realized it earlier. It was a castle, alright, but not the one we were looking for." He paused. "You see, Merlin created numerous decoy castles around the world to throw off people looking for not only The Book, but Excalibur as well. What's more, and as we experienced firsthand, Merlin put certain enchantments over those castles to trap inside any enemies of King Arthur." Garrett sighed in exhaustion and leaned back in his chair. "I have no idea how Lucius Malfoy found out about them."

"We'll have to worry about that later," Harry said dryly as he drank some of his second helping.

"Right now we want to know what happened to Ian and Ann, and if they're safe," Hermione finished for him.

"Yes, they're safe."

Harry leaned forward. "How can you be so sure?"

"Have you forgotten, Harry? Being an expert on Arthurian legend also means that I'm an expert on Merlin and his practices. In these decoy castles, one of the spells he put into the methods of protection was one that would take a person and transport him or her to The Silver Castle, so that he could deal with them personally. The Silver Castle is--…"

"We know what it is," Draco interrupted. "But we want to know if there's anything in there that could harm Ian and Ann."

"To my knowledge, there isn't. They'll just remain there until we find them."

Harry took a moment to catch his breath. "So if The Silver Castle's real…"

"That means that's where we can find Excalibur," completed Hermione. "It also means we have a new lead. Rene, is it possible for you to find The Silver Castle? Are there any records that could point the way?"

"I'll have to look through my library. I can have an answer for you tomorrow."

A short silence followed, during which Harry and Hermione finished off their Firewhiskey. It was Draco who finally said something.

"One thing's still bugging me. How was my father able to lead us to the wrong castle? Unless…"

Realization dawned on Draco's face, and Garrett confirmed his suspicion by nodding his head.

"Yes. The half he provided was a fake. And as a result, it corrupted the rest of the map. Whoever Lucius Malfoy is in league with, they have access to some pretty powerful magic."

"Malfoy now has the complete map, but he still needs the real triangle in order to find The Book." Harry set his empty glass on the table beside the couch. "I've bought us more time. Not a lot, but I'll take what we can get at this point."

He checked his watch, which read 8:00. At the same time, his stomach grumbled and it was then that Harry realized just how long it had been since he ate last.

"I don't suppose we could trouble you for some food, Rene?"

"Of course," Garrett said as he lifted himself from his chair.

Over the next half hour, Harry, Hermione and Draco satisfied their aching stomachs, which had been begging for food for quite a while. They dined on sandwiches but to the three starving wizards, those sandwiches were just as appetizing as a five-course gourmet meal.

Once everyone had been properly nourished, Harry and his partners found themselves standing at the front door of Garrett's house.

"Are you sure you wouldn't like to stay here for the night?" Garrett asked once more. "It'd be much more convenient."

"No, I own a house on this street anyway," answered Harry politely. "Besides, Grimmauld Place has better measures of protection. No offense," he added quickly.

Garrett shook his head. "None taken. And I understand. You would probably like your privacy tonight. However, I need to feel like I've done something more useful. I don't suppose you'd let me hang on to the triangle?" His eyes traveled down to Harry's pocket, where the shrunken object still lay.

"Why don't you just stick to finding out whatever you can about The Silver Castle?" said Harry as he stuffed his hand inside his pocket. He recognized a flicker of disappointment come across Garrett's face before the older wizard nodded in agreement.

"Very well. I'll make sure to have something for you by sunrise."

Garrett opened the door for his guests and in the same instant, the Firewhiskey bottle from the study appeared in Harry's right hand.

He held it up. "Mind if I borrow this?"

"Go ahead."

Harry gave an expression that expressed his bittersweet gratitude and was the first to leave the house. Before he had done that, Hermione had looked at Harry with a concerned face, but remained silent as she didn't want to argue. She and Draco said a final goodbye to Garrett and followed Harry out the door.

Garrett closed the door behind them, securing the chain lock as well as casting a spell as an extra preventive measure. Next, he glided down the hall back toward the study and closed those doors as well once he was inside. With a flick of his wand, all the curtains on the windows drew themselves closed at the same time. Sighing deeply, Garrett made his way over to the fireplace, where he used the poker to stoke the flames.

The sound of movement behind Garrett caused him to turn around and see the fake bookcase on the far wall that concealed a hidden room open, and standing in front of it was Lucius Malfoy.

"Why didn't you kill them?" Malfoy inquired coldly. "You had the perfect opportunity. Or better yet, why didn't you just leave them to die in the castle like we discussed?"

Malfoy placed the triangle and the map, which he had been holding, down on the table containing the glasses. As he did, Garrett's gaze followed the action.

"Because we still need them. Back at the castle, I noticed that Potter switched the triangle. What we have here is a fake."

In a fit of anger, Malfoy extracted the triangle from the folded-up map and held it up to the firelight. After a few seconds of fruitless inspection, he abruptly threw it down on the floor, where it smashed to pieces.

"Damn him!"

"Obviously, I didn't want to compromise myself, so I let them go for now. So we need to discuss how best to acquire the actual thing."

Malfoy removed his wand from its hidden compartment within his cane and from its tip came a downpour of Firewhiskey, which he aimed into an empty glass. He drank it like an experienced wino. "Where did they run off to?"

"Number Twelve, Grimmauld Place. Just down the street, as a matter of fact."

"I say we ambush them and take the blasted triangle after we've blown them to pieces."

Garrett stepped closer to Malfoy, an amused smirk playing across his face. "That's good initiative, Lucius, unfortunately it's also your problem. You kill first and then ask questions later. If there's anything my years as an Auror taught me, it's that you must be decisive in situations like these. And don't forget that you work for _me_, so we do things my way."

"So what exactly do you suggest?"

"I was thinking that we let Potter do our dirty work for us. Force him to find The Book, and we'll be saved a lot of trouble. Give him the map and a reason to retrieve The Book…_then_ we kill him, along with his two friends."

Malfoy diverted his gaze over to the map as a sinister smile curved his lips. "I think I know just what'll persuade him."

Garrett shared the same smile. "So do I." He helped himself and Malfoy to another round of Firewhiskey and they both raised their glasses. "With luck, the Ministry of Magic will be dead in forty-eight hours."

Malfoy clinked his glass against Garrett's. "To a new order."

* * *

**A/N: Yes, Rene Garrett is a turn coat within the Ministry but no, he's not the main traitor I've been hinting at. You'll have to wait until Chapter 22 to find out who THAT is.**

**And some trivia: the name Rene Garrett I derived from the Latin phrase "rene gare", which means "turn coat".**


	19. Remembering The Lost

CHAPTER NINETEEN

_**REMEMBERING THE LOST**_

As Harry, Hermione and Draco walked along the sidewalk that led to Grimmauld Place, they were met with an onslaught of various things. Through houses which had open windows on both sides of the street either came the low sound of music and dialogue from television shows or the enticing aroma of fresh food for dinner. In the distance, police sirens and car alarms occasionally wailed in the air, coming as sharply and suddenly as cracks of a whip. Only a few cars traveled up and down the street, but the trio paid them very little attention.

Harry was a few steps behind Hermione and Draco, the bottle of Firewhiskey still cupped in his palm. The liquid jostled about, hitting the glass casing with small clinks. Every now and again, Harry would take a small swig and let the burning sensation the drink entailed course through his veins.

However, as Harry kept walking, he couldn't shake the unwelcome feeling that they were either being watched or being followed. For perhaps the third time, Harry halted and turned around, scanning the area for any signs of a follower, but like the first few times, nothing stood out. He moved quickly to catch up with Hermione and Draco.

Just a short distance away from the house Harry had inherited from his late Godfather, he saw something that made him stop in his tracks.

It was a church, but not just any church. This had been the very place Harry and Ginny were set to be married. They had chosen it not only because of its close proximity to Grimmauld Place, but also because they had been told by Sirius before his death that it had been where Harry's parents held their wedding. It was a church that was noticeable only to witches and wizards. Much like Hogwarts, whenever non-magical people looked upon it, all they saw was a worn-down and weathered church with boarded up windows and yellow tape impeding the path inside.

As if in a trance and not realizing he was doing so, Harry shifted course and began climbing up the stairs toward the main doors.

In the same instant, Hermione and Draco noticed that Harry had departed their company. As one, they turned to see him in front of the church's massive double doors.

"Harry?" Hermione called out to him. Obviously, she recognized where they were, and was therefore concerned about what Harry was doing.

"What's going on?" Draco asked Hermione, looking from her to Harry and back again.

Hermione didn't answer. She continued to stare worriedly after her boyfriend before finally going after him. She watched Harry push open the door and step into the church. Draco could do nothing but follow.

Inside the church, Harry walked up the main aisle between the rows of benches lined up in perfect formation. The chapel itself was lit by the pale golden light of numerous candles, combined with the multicolored glows shining down from the stained glass windows. Harry didn't stop until he had reached the first pew, directly in front of the altar which was deserted. Slowly, and not taking his eyes off of the stained glass portrait that was at the front, Harry sat himself down on the wooden bench. He retained his grip on the bottle of Firewhiskey.

Looking at the place where engaged couples would stand during a marriage ceremony, Harry found his mind's eye overcome with images of his parents' wedding, even though Harry had seen few pictures of the actual event. He could just picture his mother standing there in an elegant, beautiful and flowing white wedding dress that flawlessly complemented her attention-grabbing red hair. Harry could also see his father, his unkempt hair standing out against his otherwise cleaned-up good looks. They were holding hands as the priest recited the matrimonial lines.

Then, James and Lily Potter changed before Harry's eyes into himself and Ginny. Everyone always talked about how Harry and Ginny bore a striking resemblance to James and Lily; their similar physical traits were uncanny. But it was there that the similarities stopped.

Lily was reputed to be the smartest witch of her age, and there was only one witch of this generation that Harry knew of who had that title. Because Harry just thought of Hermione, his mind's eye replaced Ginny with the brown-haired witch and once Harry could get a proper good look, Harry had to admit that Hermione looked absolutely ravishing in a wedding dress.

The young woman in question, unbeknownst to Harry, had slipped inside the church as well as seated herself right beside him. Harry looked over at her and saw that she too was staring at the altar. Wordlessly, he held out the bottle of Firewhiskey.

Hermione took it and downed quite a bit of it, wiping her mouth when she was done. She handed it back to Harry, who immediately drank some himself.

"By my reckoning, Ginny and I would've been married by now. Granted, I've lost track of time, but it seems about right. I'm not still in love with her," Harry added upon seeing Hermione's expression, "_she_ ended it. But she died because she got close to me."

There was a lingering pause.

"What are you looking for exactly, Harry?" asked Hermione, breaking the silence. "Redemption? Forgiveness? What?"

"Forgiveness," said Harry as he raised his head from his hands. "Because of me, the Weasley's only daughter is dead, and I'm tired. I'm tired of getting close to someone, then having that happiness taken away. Who's to say something won't happen to you next?" Harry raised the Firewhiskey bottle yet again, but Hermione forced it from his grasp before it could touch his lips and smashed it on the ground, spilling the contents everywhere.

"Stop it," Hermione stated rather forcefully. "_Don't_ think that way. I love you, but I'm not going to allow you to keep deluding yourself this way. _You didn't kill Ginny. _Lucius Malfoy killed her."

"Malfoy killed her because she was _close to me_," said Harry, his voice rising. "It's a pattern, Hermione. Everyone, _everyone_ I care about ends up cursed. And I'm sick of it! I'm sick of not being able to do anything about it! And now, Ian and Ann have vanished."

"You sent Ron to watch over her! You gave her protection! You _did _do something! And we can still save Ian and Ann. Things like this are never in our control, and yet you act like they are. Death happens, it's a natural part of life, so stop wallowing in self-pity and accept that!"

"You think I enjoy feeling like this? YOU THINK I BLOODY ENJOY BEING LIKE THIS?!"

"That's how it's coming across!" Hermione wasn't yelling, but the sharpness in her voice was equally effective. "That memory of Ginny's is an opportunity for you to move on, and you've yet to take it. What _will_ it take, Harry? Why won't you just come to peace with it? Because, quite honestly, I'm beginning to doubt that you actually do want to come to peace with it."

"So you _do_ think I still have feelings for Ginny," Harry answered coldly. "Well, you're wrong. The reason I can't bear to view Ginny's memory is because I'll see firsthand how I failed the people who call me family. It's not about any love for Ginny…it's about the fact that I failed the Weasleys." Harry let the tears cascade down his cheeks. "I let them down. Who else is there to blame, Hermione?"

Hermione inched closer to Harry, wrapping her arm tenderly around his shoulders. "You're wrong to keep blaming yourself. I keep telling you that." She paused, smiling as she pulled him to her. "Do you know what I admire about you most? It isn't your bravery, your strength or resolve. It's your compassion for others. Sweetheart, I know…I _know_ you feel guilty about all this, but you just can't think of it that way. You did what you thought was right and you had no way of knowing what was going to happen. None of us did, so let your Auror instincts kick in and don't let personal matters weigh you down. If you do, you'll end up hurting yourself even more."

"This is about you doubting yourself, and you shouldn't be," she continued. "Yes, you're a hero, but every hero has their faults. If you let your faults control you, then you render yourself useless and there are people out there who need you right now. You can't let one mistake cripple you. When you fought Voldemort, we lost countless friends and yet you still prevailed. You're not infallible, you're not a God…you're human. And it's the people who accept their humanity that are capable of doing extraordinary things."

Harry nodded and wrapped his arms around Hermione in a loving embrace. "I've lost too many people. I can't lose you, too."

"You won't," Hermione replied firmly, stroking the back of his head.

They remained that way for some time. From the back of the chapel, Draco observed them silently with one eye while keeping the other trained on the open doorway. So when a shadowy figure ascended the steps outside and came into the church, Draco leapt to his feet and aimed his wand in one fluid motion.

"Hold it," he spat.

This caught the attention of Harry and Hermione, and they got to their feet as well, their wands held steadily out in front of them.

"I assure you, I mean you no harm." The voice underneath the hood of the black sweatshirt was rough, as if its owner had just spent a great deal of time shouting at the top of his lungs.

"Are you unarmed?" Hermione's voice carried a steely tone that Harry rarely ever heard from her.

The hooded man casually inserted his right hand into his pants pocket and withdrew a wand, which he tossed through the air. It rolled once it hit the ground and stopped right at Harry's feet. "Now I am."

As Harry bent low to scoop up a nod, he gave Draco a quick nod. Draco stepped closer to the hooded man and moved his wand up and down his body. Once that was done, Draco backed away.

"He's clean."

Next, Draco grabbed hold of the black hood and pulled it down. This revealed the face of a man with brown hair, a 5 o'clock shadow and dark eyes to match the color of his hair, which he ran a hand through.

"Who are you?" asked Harry.

"Someone who's here to help you. You can call me Jones."

Harry narrowed his eyes suspiciously. "Were you the one following us?"

Jones hesitated, looking at each of the three young people. "Yes. I saw you come out of Garrett's house and felt I had to."

Hermione tensed beside Harry. "And why was that?"

"Because I have to warn you. Rene Garrett isn't who you think he is." When neither Harry nor Hermione said anything to interrupt, Jones pressed on. "I'm coming to you with this information at great personal risk. I'm in the employ of both Rene Garrett and Lucius Malfoy, both of whom are in collusion with each other."

Harry, Hermione and Draco all bore expressions of doubt and disbelief at this statement.

"I promise you, it's true," Jones said hastily. "Garrett hired Lucius Malfoy to find The Book of Merlin for him. Garrett wants The Book so he can use it to endow himself with Merlin's magic and use it to overthrow the Ministry."

"And he plans to do this by himself?" said Draco, slightly skeptical.

"No. Garrett's part of a secret organization intent on seizing power in both the Wizard and Muggle World. He's doing this to help them establish a new order. He hired me as one of his lackeys, but I've had enough. I can't allow this to happen."

Harry stared at Jones levelly and exchanged a brief glance with Hermione. "How can we even trust you?"

"Here's my insurance." Jones reached into his other pocket and pulled out a small item. He then threw it to Harry, who caught it.

Harry studied the item closely and immediately discovered that it was a memory vial with the glowing, ethereal contents of a memory. Harry looked back up at Jones.

"That'll tell you all you need to know." Jones glanced around nervously and pulled his hood back up. "After you view it, I'll find you again and help you further." He turned to go.

"Wait," Harry called out. "If this is all true, then let us take you into protective custody."

Jones audibly snorted and turned to face Harry again. "I'm no safer with the Aurors than I am out there." He gestured toward what was beyond the church doors.

"Are you talking about a traitor in the Auror Department?" inquired Hermione. "So there really is one?"

Jones nodded. "But I can't reveal their identity. It seems Garrett likes to hold his cards closer to his chest than you might think. Look, I don't have a great deal of time, here. I've given you what I needed to, now I must go. Remember, I'll find you again."

Before Harry could say a word, Jones vanished into thin air, leaving empty space behind him.

This unexpected meeting had ended just as suddenly as it had begun, and Harry was left with more questions than answers. He thumbed the fresh memory vial in his hand thoughtfully.

By now, Draco had joined Harry and Hermione and was staring down at the vial as well, half-smirking. "You're just wracking up these things, aren't you?"

Harry shot him a curious glare, but remembered that Draco had overheard his and Hermione's brief argument. That meant he heard the mention of Ginny's memory.

"I don't suppose there's a Penseive where we're going?" the blond-haired wizard asked further.

"Unfortunately not." Harry turned to Hermione. "What do you think?"

Hermione was biting the nail of her right forefinger while eyeing the memory vial. "Hogwarts is the only place we know of with a Penseive." She glanced at her watch. "But it's getting late. We could at least _look_ for one at Grimmauld Place."

"Hermione, if Sirius ever had a Penseive, I'm sure we would've known about it."

Hermione looked again at the vial for a few seconds before finally nodding her head in agreement. "Okay. McGonagall said we could stay there however long was necessary anyway. Let's just get this over with."

She gave Harry an encouraging smile which he returned, albeit rather halfheartedly.

Together, the trio walked out of the church and onto the sidewalk outside. Nothing had really changed since they had been inside.

Harry took hold of Hermione's hand and Draco's arm and was just about to perform Side-Long Apparition when an abrupt outburst of sound from his right made him stop. Immediately, Harry noticed that the noise had come from the direction Grimmauld Place was in, so his suspicions were aroused. He dropped the appendages of his partners and without a word, began dashing down the street. Hermione and Draco needed no coaxing, as they instantly took off after him.

After nearly running headlong into an oncoming car and receiving an aggressive honk of the horn for it, Harry, Hermione and Draco arrived at the short stairway leading to Grimmauld Place and took the stairs three at a time.

Harry could tell that something was indeed wrong. The front door had been broken and was hanging from a single hinge. This made Harry whip out his wand and throw his back against one side of the doorway. He motioned for Hermione and Draco to do the same on the opposite side, and they followed suit.

Listening intently, Harry could hear shuffling sounds emanating from inside and he silently cursed himself for not updating the security measures for the house. He exhaled slowly, gripping his wand tighter at the same time. He glanced over at Hermione and Draco and nodded curtly.

As one, the three of them leaned into the doorway, wands raised. Nothing was visible upon first look, so they cautiously entered the house, still prepared for anything. Using a quick spell, Harry scanned the entire downstairs area and discovered nothing out of the ordinary. So, he led Hermione and Draco up the stairs and onto the second floor.

A creaking sound came from a bedroom down the hall and as much as Harry's thoughts told him not to investigate, his instincts compelled his feet to take him there. In a matter of seconds, he and the others were at the bedroom's entrance. Harry counted to three and rushed inside, only to be stopped by something appearing at his throat, along with the forceful feel of a hand grabbing his arm.

What was at his neck was a pure black sword, with the hilt, from what Harry could make out, in the shape of a serpent's head. Therefore, that would make the blade a representation of the tongue. Harry had never seen something like that.

Careful not to move his head too much for risk of getting his neck sliced, Harry averted his eyes to the side to see who the sword's owner was. But the next words spoken answered that for Harry.

"Put the Mudblood on the bed," said Lucius Malfoy.

A few moments later, Hermione came into Harry's line of vision. She was struggling fiercely while being held by a cloaked figure with a silver mask. For a second, Harry thought it was a Death Eater mask, but the instant a beam of moonlight caught it, Harry saw that it was in the shape of another serpent's head.

The figure hurled Hermione down onto her back on top of the bed and restrained her hands and feet to the posts with black cords. All the while, Hermione put up a valiant fight, but it was of no use.

Harry felt Malfoy remove the blade.

"Now…Potter, you're going to comply with our request, otherwise we'll torture your filthy Mudblood until she begs for death."

Harry stole a glance over toward Draco, who was also being restrained. He looked back at Hermione, who was staring back at him with wide eyes. He mouthed the words "I'm sorry" to her. He had led them all into a trap.

"What do you want?" Harry asked, doing his best to keep the quavering in his voice to a minimum.

"For you to find The Book for us."

Harry felt Malfoy shove something into his grasp. Forcing himself to tear his gaze away from Hermione, Harry dropped his head to see that he was now holding the map.

"It's the real thing this time. All you have to do is find it and bring it back to me within two hours, and she lives. If you fail, I'll not only make her death slow and painful, but I'll make sure you watch it happen."

Harry was completely unresponsive. He could do nothing but stare down at the map in silence.

"Or perhaps a short demonstration is in order? _Crucio!_"

As the air was suddenly filled with Hermione's screams of agony, not only were Harry's senses reawakened but his mind began flashing back to Malfoy Manor a few years ago when Hermione had been tortured by Bellatrix Lestrange. If it was possible, the scenario was even more unbearable now.

"STOP! STOP IT! DON'T HURT HER! I'LL DO IT!"

Malfoy lifted the curse and Hermione began gulping in air.

"Very well," Malfoy sneered. "Two hours, Potter. Bring The Book to the main gates of Hogwarts."

"How do I even know I can _find_ it before two hours?"

Malfoy chuckled ruthlessly, and each syllable made Harry's blood boil. "The resting place isn't too far away."

With that, Malfoy and his two associates, along with Hermione, disappeared. Harry and Draco were left alone.

For the first time in quite a while, Harry felt an emotion that tore at his inner being and set fire to his soul, causing his heart to beat rapidly and sweat to pour from his forehead.

It was panic.


	20. Merlin's Tomb

**A/N: Sorry it's been so long, but I was very busy with school for a while and was also dividing my writing duties. But I've completed the next four chapters and here they are. And there's a BIG plot twist in Chapter 22 and it's a risky one, but it was my intention all along to write that in, as twisted as it may be. I promise to follow up on it in subsequent chapters.**

CHAPTER TWENTY

_**MERLIN'S TOMB**_

Harry, still clutching the map, sank to his knees. He couldn't take his eyes off the spot where Hermione had been mere seconds ago. He wanted to believe that it was a dream; that any moment now Hermione would either be waking him up or would reappear on the bed, but seconds turned into minutes and Harry soon realized that his hopes wouldn't be fulfilled.

Draco walked up and placed his hand on Harry's shoulder, a gesture Harry would have found surprising and unlike Draco if his mind hadn't been occupied with other thoughts. "Harry, we need to get going. We have less than two hours."

The words seemed to serve as a jolt to Harry's numbed senses. He quickly snapped out of his trance and got to his feet. "Right." He couldn't let Hermione die, and that simple thought reawakened his Auror training.

Harry reached into his pocket, grabbed the shrunken triangle, and whipped it out. With a simple tap of his wand, the triangle expanded to its normal size. Harry handed the triangle to Draco so he could place the map down on the floor, every bit of it spread out and readable. As Harry reclaimed the triangle, he couldn't help but notice that the landscape depicted on the map looked familiar.

Harry next placed the triangle upon the surface of the map and let go of it, allowing the magical item to perform its task of locating The Book. The moment the triangle finally settled on a spot, Harry and Draco immediately dropped to their hands and knees and peered through the triangle's bottom. What they saw made their faces slacken in disbelief.

The triangle was fixated on the tiny drawing of a castle, and that castle was Hogwarts. That was why the landscape looked so recognizable.

"You've got to be kidding me!" exclaimed Draco. "The catacomb is underneath Hogwarts? We were that close to it and didn't even know!"

Harry couldn't believe it either. For almost two days, they had practically been right on top of the catacomb and if they'd known, they could have put an end to everything right then and there. They could have stopped Malfoy, exposed Rene Garrett and more importantly, they could have avoided Hermione's abduction entirely. But Harry gritted his teeth and forced his mind to stay focused on The Book. Right now, getting The Book was all that truly mattered.

"Looks like the Chamber of Secrets isn't the only thing buried beneath the school," said Harry.

"But I don't understand. Why didn't anybody _tell_ us?"

"Because they _couldn't_. We just asked Fudge for the map, I doubt Lockhart could've told us seeing as he was still regaining his grip on life and remember what Dumbledore's portrait said? All memories of The Book's location were erased from his mind when he died."

Draco nodded. "We won't have to find the catacomb, will we?

"No," Harry replied. "The triangle will take us there itself." He glanced down at his watch; five minutes had elapsed. "There isn't any time to waste. Let's go."

Before either of them touched the triangle, Harry quickly swept his wand around in the air. The action would ensure that Grimmauld Place's security measures would reinforce themselves. After that, Harry and Draco reached out simultaneously and placed their fingers on top of the triangle's base.

This time, Harry kept his eyes wide open as the transport took place. All around him and Draco, images swirled at a dizzying rate. Harry registered these images as different parts of Hogwarts: Gryffindor Tower, the Entrance Hall, the Great Hall and the Dungeons. At last, the swirling ceased and Harry and Draco found themselves standing on solid ground.

They were standing in a windowless stone passageway where the walls were lined with blue torches on the right and purple ones on the left. Ahead, nothing was visible except for the faint outline of the rest of the narrow passageway. This was the sight that met Harry upon a glance down the opposite way. His and Draco's only option was to move forward.

Indeed, Draco took a step forward, but Harry shot his arm out in front of him.

"Wait. We don't know what we're dealing with yet."

Instead of making another move, Harry picked up the map and triangle. Once again, he shrunk down the triangle and placed it in the pocket that didn't hold the memory vials. Yet upon a new observation of the map, Harry discovered that the etchings had changed. They now showed what was obviously a blueprint of the catacomb and much like the Marauder's Map, there were two dots labeled "Harry Potter" and "Draco Malfoy" right where Harry and Draco were now standing.

Harry looked ahead on the map and saw that all they needed to do was go straight, because that was where a room labeled "Merlin's Tomb" lay. Admittedly, it seemed too simple, but right now Harry would definitely take simple over complicated.

He conjured up a satchel to put The Book in when they found it, and strapped it around his shoulder so that it hung by his hip. Harry muttered "_Lumos_", and Draco did the same. Their voices echoed eerily off the walls.

With a deep breath, Harry and Draco stepped forward.

They hadn't taken three steps when the passageway violently began to shake, with bits of debris and dust falling from overhead. Following that was the loud and ominous sound of cracking.

Harry looked down and discovered that the cracking was that of the floor literally crumbling away, leaving only solitary square pieces. The openings in the ground provided a view of an infinite blackness that seemed to drop down to the center of the earth itself.

Harry was able to keep both his footing and balance on the square he was standing on, but at the same time noticed that Draco was on the one ahead of him. Draco was looking at Harry for an answer about what to do next.

"Stay there," Harry shouted out. "Don't move!"

However, not moving didn't seem to be an option. Another curious sound was emanating from behind Harry. The sound came in short bursts and was the unmistakable noise of stone scraping against stone. When Harry turned around, he discovered the source.

The line of square stone platforms behind Harry and Draco were rapidly disappearing, being pulled down into the darkness as if by an invisible large hand, and it would soon be Harry and Draco's turn.

"Scratch that! Go!"

Draco backed up a few feet to gain momentum, and then leapt as high as he could. Soaring through the air for a few seconds, Draco finally touched ground on the next square.

Glancing one last time behind him, Harry saw that the vanishing squares were gaining on his. Without a second thought, he summoned his courage and ran to the edge of the square and propelled himself forward the moment he reached the edge. For those few seconds when his feet kicked blindly at the empty air, Harry couldn't help but be momentarily caught up in the surge of fear that went along with such an event. But thankfully, he landed safely on the next square.

With a heavy grunt, Harry hauled himself up and stood. But he had little time to savor his moments of safety, for the squares behind him were still being absorbed by the darkness. Following Draco, Harry jumped to the next square and the one after that. He managed to take each without too much effort, until the last one.

Just as his feet made contact with the final square before the solid ground ahead, pieces of the structure that had been supporting him crumbled away. Harry instantly dropped down, but quickly grabbed the ledge of stone as his feet now dangled frantically in midair.

Draco, who was still standing on the square, rushed over to Harry. He crouched down and grabbed both of Harry's arms while his eyes were trained on the square behind them, which had just been yanked down. Draco knew he only had a few seconds. So with all his might, Draco pulled Harry back up onto solid footing. In the same split-second, both of them leaped together over the last gap to safety. Harry and Draco felt the square drop the minute their feet had broken contact with it.

The thud made by their feet as they touched ground on the remaining part of the hallway echoed loudly off the walls. Brushing himself off, Harry stepped forward to discover that their path was now obstructed by something else: a large stone wall. However, in the center of the stone wall was an indentation; an indentation in the shape of a triangle. After seeing that, Harry didn't need to think twice.

He produced the emerald triangle from his pocket and changed it back to its normal size. Since the indentation had the point pointing down, that meant the triangle had to be placed upside down. Harry flipped it that way and by the blue and purple light of the surrounding torches, pushed it into the indentation until there was indication of a reaction.

That came by way of a rumbling sound which caused Draco to look around hurriedly for signs of danger. But there was no need to worry, because the rumbling was just a precursor to the wall holding the triangle falling away at angles, much like the shape of a triangle. When that was done, the emerald triangle fell at Harry's feet and he scooped it up. After placing it in his knapsack, Harry lifted one of the blue torches from the wall and peered intently into the darkness beyond.

As he and Draco (who carried a purple torch) walked over the threshold into the next part of the underground chamber, neither of them noticed what occurred overhead. Silently, a rectangular shaft in the ceiling opened up. Neither Harry nor Draco noticed this because at the same time, a piece of the floor broke away, sending both of them tumbling down an angular shaft. The two young wizards rolled out of control until their momentum stopped and they found themselves sprawled on the ground of another secret hallway.

Harry and Draco got up and regained their bearings, but by then a curious noise reached their ears.

"What's that?" Draco asked uncertainly.

As one, he and Harry turned their heads toward the shaft from which they had emerged and from where the noise was emanating. In that instant, Harry recognized what the noise was: running water.

"Bloody hell," Harry muttered.

Needing no further coaxing, Harry and Draco dashed up the hallway just as a torrent of water came bursting out of the open shaft. Now the noise was vicious, a pounding so loud that at times it sounded like the bellowing roar of a lion. As Harry led the way down the hallway, he felt flecks of moisture on the back of his neck and could tell how much closer the water was getting.

Up ahead, by way of the purple and blue light, Harry could see that the hallway cut off at a dead end. His heart pounding furiously inside of his chest, Harry chanced a glance over his shoulder to observe the progress of the flood rushing their way. The water was so close, Harry surmised that all he'd have to do would be to reach out a mere inch and he would've been able to make contact.

Seconds later, Harry wished he hadn't averted his gaze, because his feet passed over a low bend in the ground, causing him to trip and fall. Harry expected to be washed away in an instant, but curiously the water never came. Confused, Harry quickly rolled over onto his back to see exactly what had happened.

Draco was standing just beside Harry, using his wand to cast a spell that was holding back the furious flood tide. From the sight of Draco's seriously trembling figure, Harry could tell that the spell was causing tremendous strain on Draco.

"I can't hold this for long," Draco grunted through gritted teeth. "Think of something! Fast!"

Harry desperately started looking around for options and finally found it beneath him. What he had tripped over was a triangular hole in the ground…a hole big enough for the emerald triangle.

Hurriedly, Harry whipped out the triangle and pressed it into the hole until he heard the noise that indicated the action had triggered something.

In one quick moment of action, Draco was hurled backwards by a blast of invisible force that sent him crashing against the stone wall blocking the hallway. At the same time, the rushing water was emptied into a slit that had just opened up in the ground as a result of the triangle being used.

"Harry," Draco called out.

Harry turned around to see the wall rising slowly into the ceiling while the water was emptying out of the hallway. Once all the water was gone and the wall had vanished, the triangle popped out of the indentation and Harry caught it. Harry got to his feet and joined Draco at the threshold of the second half of the hallway.

Beyond were two more torches secured to the walls, each one the same blue and purple colors, and past that…pure darkness. Because of that, there was no indication of any danger that might have been waiting.

Cautiously stepping forward, Harry and Draco each took a torch from the wall and held them out as far as they could, trying to see what was down the hallway. It was a wasted effort, but Harry's attention was soon diverted to a grinding noise beneath his feet. Harry bent down, aiming the torch at the proper angle to see a collection of a black powdery dust.

"Gunpowder," he informed Draco.

"Rather old-fashioned," Draco observed.

"Well, look where we are."

Harry touched the purple flame to the gunpowder, which caused the fire to travel down the hallway at a rapid pace. The flames finally stopped a considerable distance away, but at the same time caused a shimmering wall of pinkish-blue light to block access to a circular door at the end of the hallway.

"This just continues to get stranger," muttered Harry.

Keeping one hand over his concealed wand, Harry stepped beside the line of flames and began walking toward the door. He didn't take four steps before two blades came soaring out of the opposite walls and toward Harry. Thinking fast, Harry dived and rolled forward, coming back up onto his feet and out of the reach of the blades.

"Try dangerous," said Draco.

By now, the blades had retracted back into the walls.

"Come on!" Harry yelled.

Draco placed the blue torch back into its holding place before taking a deep breath and rubbing his hands together in preparation. He raced forward, mimicking Harry's movements to the tee until he was safely beside Harry and had narrowly avoided the blades.

They were now closer to the door.

But just as they took another step, regularly colored flames shot out from the walls, nearly incinerating Harry's and Draco's eyebrows. More flames erupted from the stone foundation at spaced-out intervals down the hall, ending just before the door's shimmering shield. Based off the fact that each burst of flame occurred in a seemingly timed fashion, Harry knew how to proceed.

He grabbed Draco by his collar. "Go!" He shoved Draco forward.

Still maintaining his grip on Draco, Harry started a pattern of running forward and then stopping abruptly, according to when the flames would appear and vanish. Throughout this, Harry would constantly yell "Go!" or "Stop!" while navigating the flames. Harry kept this up until he and Draco had cleared the danger.

"Well…_that_ was fun," Draco spouted sarcastically.

Now past the secret blades and the fire traps, the only thing that stood between Harry and Draco and the door was the shimmering force field of energy. As a precautionary measure, Harry ripped off part of his left sleeve and gingerly made it come into contact with the energy wall. Instantly, the piece of fabric disintegrated into many miniscule pieces.

"Great," moaned Draco. "How are we going to get past this?"

Harry observed the force field carefully, taking in every detail he could and searching for a way around it. So far as he could tell, there was none. Harry could feel his heart begin to pound faster as he consulted his watch. Time was running out.

"This is where we could use Hermione," Harry remarked matter-of-factly.

"Come on, focus," Draco said encouragingly.

Harry took the advice and held up the triangle. The artifact had helped them get through the secret catacomb so far, so it made sense to try and use it here as well.

Upon closer observation, Harry could make out perfectly camouflaged grooves along each side of the triangle's tip. He ran his fingers along the lines to make sure he wasn't just seeing things; the grooves were indeed there.

Harry proceeded to slip his fingernails underneath the grooves and lift until there was an audible clicking sound. The tip lifted up then folded back. Inside the now visible hole in the center, the source of the glowing green light rose up; it was a vial of emerald liquid, enough to split between two people. Using two fingers, Harry removed the vial from its hiding place and set the triangle down on the ground.

"What's that?" asked Draco.

Harry's mind briefly flashed back to the end of his first year at Hogwarts where he had faced a similar situation. That experience was where Harry was drawing from, except here there were two obvious differences: there was no riddle to blur the choice of what to do and Hermione wasn't there by his side. Still, Harry knew what he had to do.

"Our way through," Harry replied as he snapped back the top of the vial, which was shaped like an eagle's head. "Cheers," he said, tipping the vial first in Draco's direction then down as he consumed half of the contents. Harry didn't feel any different once he was done, so he handed Draco the rest of the liquid.

Draco finished it off and shook his head to help it go down. "Tastes lovely."

Taking a deep breath after picking the triangle back up, Harry stepped forward and into the energy field. The sensation Harry felt upon setting foot inside the field was most comparable to the feeling of water rushing down on all of his sides. It was an almost suffocating feeling, but Harry forced the discomfort aside and moved ahead until he had cleared the field. After he was through, Harry turned to see Draco still standing on the opposite side.

"You coming?"

"Sure." Draco closed his eyes as he stepped into the field, through it and finally out without evident harm.

Now that they were both safely past the final obstacle, Harry focused his full attention on the circular door in front of them. The triangle still in his hands, Harry moved closer to the impenetrable stone door. Just like with the force field, there was no visible way of overcoming it. Although, there were small shapes embedded around the curved edge of the door…but there were no items in the vicinity that looked like they would fit into the indentations.

However, that changed when Harry raised the triangle and bits of it flew out of it and into the door's indentations. First it was just pieces of the triangle flying into the small holes, then went the rest of the triangle, into the larger holes in the middle. This action caused the door to slide to the right, the sound echoing eerily off the walls.

Revealed behind the stone door was an expansive chamber. Harry and Draco took out their wands and glanced momentarily at each other before simultaneously setting foot inside the next and last part of the underground catacomb.

Merlin's Tomb.


	21. The Book of Merlin

CHAPTER TWENTY-ONE

_**THE BOOK OF MERLIN**_

__As Harry set foot inside the lavish yet simple layout of Merlin's Tomb, a feeling of trepidation mixed with accomplishment swept over him. Yes, he and Draco had successfully navigated the path of death to arrive at the Tomb, but they still had to retrieve The Book and deliver it to Lucius Malfoy in time to save Hermione's life. Harry hated those kinds of deadlines.

Along the walls was a line of the same blue and purple-colored torches that had lit the passageways leading to the Tomb. They were arranged in a pattern that switched colors with every other torch, giving the Tomb a confused source of light. The chamber reminded Harry of one of the rooms located in the dungeons of Hogwarts; a very enclosed space with no windows and walls that were moist with…something, Harry couldn't tell exactly what. The ceiling was low, just barely high enough for a full-grown person to stand up straight in. However it was what sat at the center of the Tomb that caught and held Harry's attention at the moment.

It was an ancient coffin made out of what looked to be pure black stone, its surface shiny enough to reflect the blue and purple light off of its surface. There seemed to be a kind of invisible force radiating off of it that Harry could feel as he and Draco cautiously began to approach the coffin. Both of them held their wands out before them and cast a light across the ground that was meant to reveal any hidden traps, but there were none left. So Harry and Draco were able to reach the coffin without any problems.

Once they each were standing on either side of the coffin, they started looking for ways to open it. The top cover had no jutted edges, so simply lifting it off was immediately ruled out. Not only because of that, but also because there were no carved-in places to fit a hand.

"The Book has to be inside here," Draco stated bluntly as he looked around the Tomb. He had to be right, seeing as there was no other possible hiding place.

"So how do we open it?" Harry observed the coffin more closely. As he did, he noticed that there was a thin and almost unnoticeable indentation making its way completely around the coffin. It was an indentation big enough to fit the tip of a wand and since Harry currently had his wand in his hand, it got him thinking.

Harry extinguished the light on his wand and slowly fit it into the strip, testing out his theory. As expected, it was a perfect fit. He motioned for Draco to do the same.

The next step came out of instinct. Harry, wand still embedded in the coffin, walked around the object, as did Draco. A few seconds after they started to move, an echoing sound emanated out from the coffin. To Harry, it sounded most like the crackling flames of a fire as chunks of wood were added onto it. He extracted his wand from the strip after he had completed the trek around the coffin. Upon a second glance, Harry saw that their action had released a small wave of clear acidic liquid that was quickly filling the strip. Once it had, the coffin's cover had an expulsion of smoke escape from underneath it before it literally was propelled up and off by way of a contained explosion.

Harry and Draco had to dive in opposite directions to avoid the flying lid as it crashed down onto the ground between them. This left a column of smoke rising up from the open coffin, as well as causing a noise which sounded like air being let out of an inflatable raft. The flames of the torches all rippled in an invisible wind.

"Quick thinking there," complimented Draco as he and Harry got back to their feet.

"Auror thinking," replied Harry. "It comes with the territory."

They retook their positions on either side of the coffin and looked down to see its contents.

Laying there was an elderly man, his face and skin impressively well-preserved, considering the fact that Merlin had been dead for many, many years. The body bore a robe sporting the same colors as the surrounding torches. But before they knew what was happening, Harry and Draco watched as Merlin's perfect skin disintegrated into a dried-out mass of dusty flesh.

"Never seen air act so lethal," said Draco.

"What do you expect?" remarked Harry. "He's been sealed up for hundreds of years. It's no surprise he goes from sealed up to shriveled up."

"It's strange to be standing in the presence of probably the most famous wizard of all time."

"He's dead," Harry said stiffly. "We're not _in_ his presence; we're just beside it."

Harry let his eyes travel down to Merlin's now-decayed hands, which were folded peacefully on his chest. But what Harry was really focused on was the dark and dust-covered cloth which sat to the right of the corpse. The cloth was obviously covering something, and while Harry could make no assurances, he still had a pretty good guess what it was.

Stowing his wand away temporarily inside his pocket, Harry reached into the coffin, grabbed the cloth lump and gingerly pulled the object out.

Once it was in his grasp, Harry positioned the object against his left arm, holding it at an upward angle. He glanced at Draco with raised eyebrows and Draco gave him an excited look back. Draco shifted the focus of that expression to the object as Harry unfolded the first piece of cloth.

What lay underneath was a leathery surface that gleamed dully in the firelight. Harry threw aside the rest of the cloth to reveal what was indeed a book, medium-sized with a leather cover Harry could only guess was brown. There was no writing at all on either side, but there were engraved patterns all over with one in the dead center depicting a star in the center of a shield. That star had a shining circle in the middle of it, which to Harry looked as if it came out. The spine stuck out a bit further than an average book, and a golden lock was placed over the collection of pages, hindering anyone from opening the book. As per the rules of decomposition, the outside of the pages were pure yellow and frail to the touch.

Harry turned The Book on its side to attempt to work the lock open. There was no keyhole, so he didn't have to worry about locating a key. Obviously, he tried using his wand to open the lock, but even that didn't work. Harry contemplated his options for a few moments, turning The Book around in his hands before another thought occurred to him. That and the fact that there was a thin slot in the page lock.

He slid his fingernails around the embedded circle of…whatever it was. It took a while, but after a few good tugs, Harry managed to pull what he surmised was a circular jewel from the cover. But when he held it up to the firelight, Harry could clearly tell that it was more of a colored magnifying glass. Next, he inserted the glass into the slot in the lock and twisted it upward.

There was a loud clicking sound that reverberated off the stone walls as Harry took out the glass circle and opened The Book. Harry couldn't be entirely sure, but he swore he could feel a significant change in the air. Maybe that accounted for the shiver that traveled down his spine.

Harry moved The Book so that it rested against the coffin. From this position, he could more easily turn the pages and study the contents.

"_Lumos._" While still balancing The Book against the coffin and on top of his legs, Harry lit his wand to gain better vision. Draco stepped closer as he did so.

The Book was opened to a random page in the middle, and yet to both Harry and Draco's surprise, the pages were blank. There weren't even notations in the upper corners to indicate page numbers.

Harry flipped through a few more pages, both forward and backward to make sure he hadn't just opened to the only blank pages. But no, the rest were blank as well.

"What the bloody hell is this?" snapped Draco. "Where's the text?"

Harry traced his fingers over the weathered page in contemplation. The action seemed to bring the solution to mind. "Invisible ink."

"You sure?"

"I just have a gut feeling."

"Okay," breathed Draco. "So how do we reveal it?"

"Most likely, there's some kind of extremely advanced spell shielding it. One that could take hours to crack."

"And that's time we don't have," Draco muttered darkly. That comment once again reminded Harry of Hermione's absence for this situation, as well as the deadline for her life.

"Fortunately, I think we have other options," said Harry, holding up the glass circle.

"How sure are you that'll work?"

"Sure enough to give it a try."

Harry pointed his wand toward one of the torches and grumbled "_Accio!_" The item in question flew into his grasp and he angled it toward the blank pages. Harry stuffed his wand away again and devoted his free hand to the glass. Holding it between two fingers while keeping the torch trained on the pages, Harry leaned in close to The Book.

The view through the glass gave everything a reddish hue, but just as Harry had expected, it revealed what he wanted to see. Much like the method demonstrated by Tom Riddle's diary, the inky words appeared on the page as if written by an invisible hand. While the text was writing itself, Harry temporarily removed the glass from his line of vision to see that to the naked eye, the pages were still blank.

"What do you see?" asked Draco. Harry could swear that he could smell bated breath.

Harry handed Draco the glass, which the blonde-haired wizard put up to his eye.

"Well," said Draco, "problem solved." He squinted at the page, clearly trying to make out the text. "But I can't make it out. Is that a different language?"

Harry took another look. "My guess is that it's some sort of code, to keep the secrecy." Indeed, the text was nigh impossible to read because it was made up of many letters and symbols that were different from anything Harry had seen before.

"But we don't have time to decode it."

Harry stole a glance at his watch and was surprised to see that a little over an hour had elapsed, meaning that they had less than that to rendezvous with Malfoy and trade The Book for Hermione's life. But Harry had no intention of letting Malfoy escape with The Book so easily. There had to be a way to keep the status quo in their favor, and Harry was already working on that.

"Okay, we've got what we came for," he said. "Now we need to find a way out of here." He replaced the glass in its holding place and closed The Book.

Harry and Draco turned back toward the door leading out of The Tomb and moved to walk through it. But when they were two steps away from the threshold, the door rolled shut by itself with an echoing rumble. Draco rushed forward and tried to keep it from shutting, but the door was too powerful for him.

As the door closed, it sent a ripple of air out across The Tomb that caused the blue and purple flames to flail about.

"Move out of the way," Harry ordered while, with The Book tucked under one arm, he aimed his wand at the stone door and fired off a spell. It hit the door, but ricocheted off and Harry had to duck to avoid it as the spell blasted into the far wall and created a crater.

"Looks like we're trapped," Draco stated hollowly.

"We're not," Harry replied firmly. "We can't be. There has to be another way out somewhere."

The two of them split up and started combing The Tomb for other escape routes. Halfway through their efforts, another low rumbling filled the air. This one was accompanied by a violent shaking in the walls. Particles of dust came loose, but others were pulled into shapes of humanoid form until those shapes became solid. The figures were of intimidating stature, with bodies as bulky as bodybuilders and faces like leather, none of which were expressive. They all wore the kind of armor seen in the medieval period and drew swords that glimmered in the firelight.

Harry and Draco backed up until they were beside each other.

"Guardians of The Book," Harry said, staring around evenly at them all.

"Oh yeah," spat Draco. "This just keeps getting better and better."

A sword was tossed their way, but it narrowly missed their heads and planted itself in the stone wall behind them. Harry shot a spell toward the one that had thrown the sword, but the spell just passed through the figure and caused a temporary shift in its dust-comprised form. Harry couldn't say that he was particularly surprised.

He and Draco began backing up toward the wall as the Guards started advancing upon them. As they did, another sound filled the air. Fearing more of the Guards, Harry whipped around ready to fend them off as best he could, but instead he was met with the sight of a ladder appearing as part of the stone foundation. The rungs led up to a hole that Harry assumed had come out of nowhere within the last few seconds.

"Go!" Harry barked to Draco as he leveled his wand.

Draco needed no further coaxing. He jumped toward the ladder, grabbing a rung with one hand, and hauled himself up hurriedly. "Hurry up!" he called over his shoulder to Harry.

Harry expelled a great wave of energy out at the Guards which mowed them down rather nicely, but also seemed to cause a reaction within The Tomb. This time, _everything_ began to quake; not just the walls, but the entire area.

Pieces from the ceiling crumbled away and crashed against the ground. More and more pieces fell at a quickening rate as the shaking grew in intensity. So it was with great effort that Harry lifted himself up off the ground and onto the ladder after he had tucked The Book away in his satchel. The shaking rocked Harry back and forth as he struggled up the ladder. Stone chunks continued to rain down around him.

Harry managed to ascend three of the ladder rungs before he felt a painfully firm grip on his right ankle. He looked down to see one of the Guards attempting to pull him back down into The Tomb. The Guard's grasp was so strong that it pulled Harry down a few rungs, his fingers slipping off gradually. He could see Draco up ahead of him, gazing down in concern.

Gritting his teeth, Harry lashed out violently with his free foot, connecting it with the Guard's face multiple times until the reanimated person was forced to let go. The Guard crumbled into dust and Harry raced up the ladder just as the bigger pieces of debris filled The Tomb.

Inside the narrow tunnel, Harry and Draco lit their wands to see the way while they climbed up the ladder. It felt like it went on for a very long time, but of course, they were very deep underground. Eventually, a glimmer of light appeared before them until it got bigger and brighter.

Emerging from the tunnel, Harry and Draco found themselves in the main passageway of the Dungeons at Hogwarts. They cautiously extricated themselves from the tunnel and replaced the piece of floor that had curiously been moved out of the way for them. That got Harry thinking…did somebody else know they were there?

Harry and Draco, checking their watches as they did so, walked toward the staircase that led into the Entrance Hall. They took the stairs two at a time and when they were in the Entrance Hall, Harry received the answer to his question.

Lucius Malfoy was standing in the center of the Hall, flanked by cronies of his who wore the same monotonous black clothing that Harry always associated with Dark Wizards. Even though there was no wind inside the castle, the bottom of their cloaks rippled as if there were. It was only then that Harry noticed one of Malfoy's men holding Professor McGonagall in his grasp as well as aiming a wand at her throat.

"So pleased you could join us." Malfoy's voice echoed inside the empty hall. "Do you have The Book?"

Harry slipped the satchel off of him and removed The Book, holding it up so Malfoy could see. Malfoy stepped forward but Harry held The Book back in the same movement.

"Hermione?" he asked pointedly.

"Safe and waiting for you. She'll remain that way as long as you give me The Book."

Harry hesitated. There was still something about this whole situation that just didn't sit well with him, whether it be his general distrust for Malfoy or the fact that everything about this seemed too easy.

Malfoy tightened his grip on his cane. "You have ten seconds to hand it over…or McGonagall dies."

The henchman holding McGonagall aimed his wand at an angle as the Headmistress's eyes widened.

"One."

Harry shot Draco a desperate look, only to discover that Draco had a similar one on his own face.

"Two."

Harry looked down at The Book, considering the gravity of the situation.

"Three."

An image of Hermione flashed through his mind.

"Four."

The image was one of her laughing and smiling. Harry's heart ached when he considered the possibility of never hearing that laugh or seeing that smile ever again.

"Five."

The image became Ginny, her face pale and expressionless, her eyes shut. In that instant, Harry knew that he wouldn't let Hermione end up the same way.

Before Malfoy could finish the next number, Harry tossed The Book through the air and Malfoy caught it.

"Thank you."

Beside Harry, one of Malfoy's goons suddenly punched Draco so that he was unconscious before he even hit the floor. Harry barely had time to register what had happened before he experienced the same thing and was given a one-way ticket to darkness.


	22. The Traitor

CHAPTER TWENTY-TWO

_**THE TRAITOR**_

Harry was running through a field, sunshine beating down around him and a light wind shifting the blades of grass from side to side. The wind in his face provided a feeling of exhilaration and it was only then that he became aware of the fact that he was laughing delightedly. Ahead of him, Harry saw a slender figure running as well. Judging from their build, Harry could tell that it was a young woman.

All he could discern was bushy brown hair from his current vantage point. Then, whoever it was turned around and Harry's vision was filled by a clear view of chocolate brown eyes. These eyes pulled Harry into a deep trance and he was immediately mesmerized. There was something in those eyes that just spoke to him, but he couldn't quite place his finger on what that something was. All he knew was that the alluring gaze was bringing him closer to the person.

Just then, the fluorescent sunshine and the perfect blue sky were wiped away by a torrent of dark clouds. Growls of thunder made the ground reverberate underneath Harry's feet, but his eyes never left those of the girl in front of him. Even as lightning flashed menacingly around them, Harry didn't allow himself to be distracted. But as Harry kept staring, he saw tears well up in the brown eyes and roll down smooth cheeks just as another jolt of lightning flashed.

Harry wanted to go to the girl and take her into his arms, to comfort her, but something was obstructing him from doing so. It was a feeling inside his stomach that started off warm at first, but steadily got hotter and hotter until it was a full-on burning sensation. Before Harry knew it, every fiber of his inner being felt like it was both on fire and being poked with razor-sharp knives at the same time. Harry let out a scream, and that scream echoed off of some kind of surface…perhaps stone.

The vision of the field and the beautiful girl disappeared, with Harry still yelling, and the sight of a dimly lit cell replaced it.

Judging from his position and the feeling of cold stone against his cheek, Harry surmised that he was on his side, scrunched up in pain. The burning sensation was lifted and Harry was able to gulp in big breaths of air.

"You blacked out again," came a cold voice from somewhere in front of Harry. "Had to bring you back. We don't want you dying on us."

As he was recuperating, Harry was brutally reminded of what was going on. He had been in this situation for at least an hour or two, if he remembered correctly. For that stretch of time, he had suffered through relentless use of the Cruciatus Curse, and the aftereffects were seriously grueling in both the emotional and physical senses. Sweat was pouring down Harry as if a bucket of water had been dumped over his head. Harry looked down at himself and recalled that his jacket had been removed, since he was now only wearing his T-shirt and jeans, which also meant he likely didn't have his wand at the moment.

Also, Harry took in his current physical appearance. The intense strain caused by the Cruciatus Curse had opened up a few cuts in his skin since there were small streaks of blood scattered all over the parts of his skin that he could see. It all added up to a sense of pain so powerful, Harry was amazed he hadn't blacked out again yet.

Harry started trying to recall exactly why he was being tortured, the same cold voice provided the answer for him.

"Let's try this again. How do you read The Book?"

Someone glided out of the shadows, and Harry recognized Lucius Malfoy's cold and emotionless face staring down at him with no indication of pity.

Harry dragged himself up into a semi-sitting position, the movement causing him all kinds of pain. "I…I told you." His voice was more of a croak, desperately in need of water and sounding like it was on the verge of going hoarse. "Just…use the…glass circle on the front. It'll show you the text."

"Yes, well we tried that," said Malfoy impatiently. "And it didn't work. You know, you'd really be doing yourself a favor if you stopped lying."

"I told you I'm not ly-…"

"_CRUCIO!_"

The torment once again swept over Harry in a furious wave. It got to the point where Harry thought his insides would be torn apart before Malfoy finally lifted the curse again.

"I'M TELLING YOU THE TRUTH!" Harry roared, fighting off the pain. "WHY WOULD I LIE TO YOU?"

"Simple," Malfoy replied coolly. "So that you can keep your precious Mudblood alive long enough for you to attempt a rescue." As Malfoy said this, Harry could do nothing except shake his head weakly. Harry was telling the truth in order to help keep Hermione alive, and even if he could think of a way to try to rescue her, he had no idea where she was. "But we both know that if you don't cooperate, I'll kill her anyway."

"The looking glass was how Draco and I were able to read The Book," Harry repeated between desperate pants of air. "I don't know why it wouldn't work. I'm not an expert on these kinds of things. So if you don't believe me, you might as well just kill me and be done with it."

Malfoy chuckled in amusement, and much like their encounter in the Ministry Atrium, each syllable bounced off the wall as if to taunt Harry. The sound was like the equivalent of hard punches to the gut. Malfoy bent down on one knee and forced Harry's head into a position where they were both staring directly at each other.

"Potter, I have no intention of killing you. It would just cast a pall over what's happening next."

"And what _is _happening next?" Harry inquired through gritted teeth.

Swiftly, Malfoy landed a hard blow against Harry's cheek. It was rough enough that Harry tasted blood in his mouth afterward, and he looked to the side and spit some onto the floor.

"Curiosity can be such a deadly attribute."

Malfoy got back to his feet as Harry readjusted his glasses. Harry noticed a few more people step out from the shadows, each of them wearing masks just like the ones he saw back at Grimmauld Place: silver snake heads.

"Didn't realize we were putting on a show for your friends," Harry snapped, snark invading his voice.

"After this long of going in circles, it's safe to say that I'm never going to break you."

"Caught onto that, have you?"

"So in that case, I believe it's time to bring in somebody who can more effectively retrieve answers." Malfoy walked over to the door of the cell and knocked three times.

"Oh yeah? And who would that be?"

"You know how you've been suspecting that there's a traitor within the Auror Division? Well, you were right. And you're about to discover who that traitor is."

Harry took a deep breath and pulled himself fully to his feet, grunting and grimacing in the process. After he had done so, a chair materialized behind him.

"Perhaps it's best if you were sitting down." Malfoy waved his wand and Harry was shoved back into the chair by a great magical force, his arms placed firmly on the armrests. Silver cords sprang up and bound Harry's arms down.

"Before you're relieved of your pain post," said Harry, "tell me one thing. How long have you had this person on the inside?"

Malfoy smirked. "Oh, about two years now."

There was a knock on the door, and Malfoy kept his eyes trained on Harry as he opened it.

A flood of light from the hallway shone right into Harry's face, but he could still make out a tall figure standing in the dead center of the doorway. The person, the Auror traitor, moved into the cell as Malfoy shut the door behind him…or her.

The traitor walked slowly in a circle around Harry, but Harry still couldn't figure out who it was. The traitor's upper half was shrouded in shadow, just outside the reach of the torchlight. However, Harry could see that the traitor wore neatly pressed black pants that had to be part of a distinguished-looking suit. In addition, there were brightly polished black shoes that completed the ensemble, the heels of which clicked loudly against the ground. Finally, the traitor came to a stop behind Harry's chair.

Harry tried to turn his head around to get his first look at the traitor's face, but a powerful and invisible force prevented him from doing so. He heard, though, the sound of liquid being poured into a glass and seconds later, a hand was placing a glass of water at his lips.

"Drink up," Malfoy ordered from across the cell.

There was really nothing to do but oblige. The water poured down Harry's throat and seemed to take away the dry feeling. Once he was finished, the glass was taken away.

"At least extend me the courtesy of showing me your face," Harry said bluntly.

He heard the traitor's shoes click into motion once again and he saw the black-clad figure move out in front of him while conjuring up a second chair. The traitor's face was still hidden by the shadows right until the very moment they sat down.

Whoever Harry had expected to see in the chair, it certainly wasn't the person whose face Harry was met with.

It was Ron, who definitely did not look dead.

"Yeah," said Ron, his face as hard and cold as Harry had ever seen it. Ron paused momentarily to let it sink in. "It's complicated."

The blood in Harry's veins had turned ice cold. He had felt angry many times in his life, but this time, this instance, completely took the cake. Harry felt enraged, relieved and betrayed all at once. Ron had been his best friend for the past nine years and he couldn't believe that in the end, Ron thought so little of that friendship that he would betray Harry at the drop of a hat. All the ways in which Harry thought he knew Ron had just been wiped clean.

"No. No, it…it can't be." Harry was struggling to find the right words. "I saw you…"

Ron smiled, but it wasn't the same easygoing smile that Harry remembered. This smile had devilish implications. "Funny thing. I wouldn't have thought anything Snape taught us in Potions would come in handy one day."

Something clicked inside Harry's mind. "The Draught of Living Death," he breathed.

Ron nodded. "Gives the impression that one is indeed dead. Stops the heart long enough to pass any tests."

Harry briefly had a flash of Ron downing a vial of the Draught and his body going immobile.

"_But why?_"

"We'll get to that soon enough." Ron whipped out his wand and with a casual flick, conjured up a roaring fireplace in the side wall. "Right now, we need to get down to business."

Harry's jaw tightened. "I've already told your _partner_ everything I know."

"Yes, I'm aware." Ron glanced back at Malfoy. "Look, I'm going to level with you and I'd appreciate it if you did the same for me. The people who hired me, the people I work for, they _won't _accept failure. So if there's something you're not telling us, now's the time to get it off your chest." When Harry didn't say anything, Ron sighed and pressed on. "Harry, I know you. I know that you would never jeopardize anyone's life so blatantly…especially Hermione's."

The mention of Hermione's name made Harry's breath catch in his throat as he considered how she would react upon discovering her ex-boyfriend had lied to her and faked his own death. "Then why don't you try trusting me?"

There was a long pause between the two of them as Ron stared at Harry unblinkingly. "Okay," Ron acquiesced. He turned to Malfoy. "Lucius…try it again."

"But we've-…"

"I said try it again," Ron snapped coldly, cutting Malfoy off.

"As you wish," Malfoy sighed. He re-opened the cell door and exited alongside his cronies, leaving Harry and Ron alone with a reverberating slam.

"What the hell are you doing?" Harry asked sharply an instant later. "What the hell's going on?"

"Like I said, it's complicated."

"Then help me to understand. You said that you know me. Well, right now, I don't know _you._ How can you just betray me? Betray your family? The people who love you?"

"I prefer to see it more as providing them with both better security and a better society."

What Harry was hearing did not sound like Ron Weasley at all. "So you've switched sides. For how long?"

"Harry, I'd rather-…"

"HOW LONG?"

Ron looked down, and it was then that Harry noticed the handsome suit adorning Ron that was very different from his average style. He looked more like how Draco would've looked in his early days. "Two years ago, I abandoned you and Hermione in the forest during the Horcrux hunt. I told you that I tried to come back immediately after I left, but that wasn't entirely true. I encountered some individuals who, I guess you could say opened my eyes."

"Who?"

"All that really matters is that they made me feel respected. They made me feel that I wasn't just some afterthought and I never felt as if I had to fight for any kind of respect."

Harry couldn't believe his ears. "You actually think that your own family doesn't love you? I was there when they found out you were dead. If you think for one second that they never truly loved you, then think again."

"This coming from the man whom my mother was more concerned about than her own son."

"So if you were so convinced that your family and friends didn't have your best interests at heart, why did you come back?"

"To keep certain events from taking place. Everything up until now has been prearranged by my people, including my relationship with Hermione."

"Why?"

"To keep the two of you apart. But it wasn't until a while ago that we realized perhaps it would be better if we allowed the two of you to be romantically involved."

"Wait," said Harry, shaking his head. "You're…you're saying my feelings for Hermione…."

"Oh, they're very much real. But we were unable to keep them at bay, no matter how hard we tried. My superiors soon realized that putting the two of you together would actually be beneficial, and they were right. You two found The Book for us."

"But how were you able to know where we were so that you could send your assassins after us?"

"Hermione's necklace. I embedded a tracking spell into it."

Harry looked down at the floor, struggling to absorb everything that was being thrown at him.

"I know this is a lot to take in, but there's one more thing of which you should be acutely aware. Within the next twenty-four hours, the people I work for will figure out a way to work The Book. And once they do, Shacklebolt will be removed from Office and replaced with a more fitting candidate. By next week, Britain will be the most powerful empire in the world. I switched sides because I realized something: that instead of trying to eliminate the threat, you _join_ them; collaborate. Once you do, the possibilities are endless. There's less conflict, and suddenly, you have a balanced relationship.

"Now, Hermione is still alive. The two of you still have a chance to live a happy life and not worry about maintaining justice ever again. All you have to do is agree to join my organization. When the smoke clears here, Harry, you're gonna want to be on the right side."

"And whose side is that?"

"They call themselves The Brotherhood of the Black Serpent. They've been steadily gaining power ever since Voldemort's short reign over the Ministry." Ron observed Harry's face closely, but Harry showed no signs of giving Ron what he was asking for. Ron laughed out of annoyance and wiped his mouth with his hand. "But what am I saying? You're never going to take the offer, are you?"

"No." Harry put every ounce of defiance he could muster into that one syllable. "I'm not a goddamn coward like you. You know what? You're right. I don't see how your family could love such a misguided, arrogant and selfish bastard like you!" He spat at Ron's feet.

Letting out a furious snarl, Ron leapt at Harry and tightly placed his right hand around Harry's throat. Ron applied a forceful pressure that robbed Harry of nearly all of his air supply. Harry struggled as hard as he could, banging his fist against Ron's arm, but Ron still maintained his grip.

"Well, old friend, let's see how you like it when I kill you with your own wand." Ron pulled out a wand that Harry indeed recognized as his own and aimed it directly between Harry's temples.

The motion reawakened something inside of Harry, and he managed to utter a few indiscernible words.

"What?" Ron said. He loosened his grip slightly.

"You should've tied up my legs!" Harry choked out.

Without either remorse or warning, Harry lashed out with his legs, knocking Ron's out from under him and sending Ron crashing to the ground.

"GUARD!" Ron shouted angrily as he tried to get back up but was kicked in the gut by Harry. This sent Harry's wand rolling across the floor.

The door opened once again and two guards rushed inside, but Harry was ready for them. He charged the first guard, still bound to the chair, and knocked the air out of the guy by slamming the chair into his chest. Harry did so one more time for good measure before backing up and smashing the chair against the wall. Once the chair was in pieces, Harry lunged at the second guard and tackled him, making sure to force the guard's wand hand up and out of the way at the same time. The two of them struggled until Harry was hurled onto his back and slid a few feet across the floor.

However, this put him beside his wand, which still lay discarded. As the guard raced toward Harry, Harry quickly grabbed his wand and shot a Stunning Spell at the guard. The guard fell to the ground like a statue the instant the red beam of light connected with his body.

Quick as a flash, Harry spun around on his back and nailed Ron with another spell that sent the redheaded wizard back to the floor, held there firmly by glowing red rings around his torso and limbs.

"Don't move," Harry said calmly after he had picked himself back up. He turned to walk out of the cell.

"Where do you think you're going?" Ron called after him.

"To save Hermione," Harry replied as he walked away. "Save my girlfriend. Wherever she is, I'll find her."

"I hope you can find her before I can kill her like I did Ginny!"

That stopped Harry dead in his tracks. He turned back around and approached Ron. "_You_ killed Ginny?" he asked, his voice quaking dangerously.

Ron stared dead into Harry's eyes. "Not one of the easier things I had to do, but it was necessary."

After spending a few seconds simply staring at Ron, Harry angrily lashed out with his foot and kicked Ron in his cheek. Ron was unconscious immediately.

Harry, in a daze, walked out of the cell. But the moment he was outside of it, he came back to his senses. There was no time to dwell on the past because he needed to stay focused on the present.

He needed to save Hermione.


	23. Fight For Freedom

CHAPTER TWENTY-THREE

_**FIGHT FOR FREEDOM**_

The moment Harry had exited the cell, he suddenly realized where he was. The room he had just been in wasn't a cell at all, but rather The Room of Requirement. E recognized the tapestry that hid it as the door vanished into the wall, and the hallway was unmistakable.

He hadn't taken two steps before another guard came barreling down the hallway toward Harry. Without even thinking about it, Harry sent the guard spiraling through the air and full-on into a wall. The guard's body slid to the ground and slumped over.

Harry ran in the direction he knew would take him closer to the moving staircases of the castle. As he sprinted along through the corridors, various questions chased themselves around in his mind. Such as, where were Hermione and Draco? Were they in danger of being killed at any moment? And how was Harry going to find them?

The answer to one of those questions sprang to mind just as Harry reached a hallway intersection. The intersection caused him to flash back to the Triwizard Tournament, mainly the Third Task. Harry had faced a similar dilemma in that instance, so this current situation called for the same solution. Or, at least, one that would yield similar results. It was something he had learned from his experience as an Auror.

Harry placed his wand against the side of his head, making sure to apply just the right amount of pressure as he said five simple words: "Take me to Hermione Granger."

Much like the Nocturno spell, when Harry opened his eyes, his field of vision took on a vibrant shade of a single color: green. It was an advanced Tracking Spell used primarily by Aurors for cases just like this one, and it proved to be an effective method every time. The green surroundings pulsated like heartbeats, which was an indication that Harry was in the right spot. Furthermore, there was a yellow pathway lit in front of Harry; the yellow light was meant to show the seeker which way to go in order to find what they were looking for.

So without wasting any more time, Harry picked up the pace and took off in the direction that was given to him. The Tracking Spell guided him through more corridors and down a few staircases until he was a level or two down from where he had started out.

Since he was keeping his eyes trained on the yellow pathway, Harry didn't notice the other person hurrying his way until they bumped into one another. Looking up, Harry discovered that it was Draco.

"How did you get away?" they both said simultaneously.

"I managed to pick the lock of the chains they had me in," Draco answered. His face was soaked in sweat and streaks of blood, much like Harry. "I've just been searching blindly for you and Hermione."

"So Hermione _is_ in the castle?" Harry's voice started rising hopefully.

"Yeah, I heard them say she was. But I'm not sure where she is exactly, so you'd better hurry."

"I'm using a Tracking Spell," replied Harry. "That's where I was going." Harry ran his fingers through his unmated hair desperately. "Listen, we may need Auror support on this. There may be more of Malfoy and Ron's men lurking about."

"Ron?" Draco asked in a mixture of uncertainty and surprise. "What the hell are you on about?"

"Yeah. The bastard's alive and he's working with your father. Apparently, he was this whole time. He played us."

"Are you sure?" Of course, Draco had reason to be doubtful.

"I saw him with my own eyes, and he was very much alive. He's been the traitor in the Auror Department this whole time."

"But…I don't understand."

"There's no time to explain. I have to get to Hermione. I want you to go down to the Great Hall and signal Barnes, Marcus or whoever you can to get here right away. If your father's still here, we can take him down now."

"What about The Book?"

Harry inhaled deeply while thinking carefully. The Book and its recovery was indeed a pressing matter, but all that really mattered to Harry right now was saving Hermione. But a thought popped into Harry's head. "I have a feeling The Book's still here. Neither Ron nor Malfoy would want it too far out of their reach."

"So I suppose you're going after it as well?" inquired Draco. "Great, well, no pressure then."

"Do you have a wand?" When Draco held one up, Harry nodded. He started walking backwards, still observing Draco through the green tint. "Get to the Great Hall and signal the Aurors! Get them here as fast as you can!"

Harry turned back around and continued to follow the yellow path. Behind him, Draco started navigating his way toward the Great Hall.

In a matter of seconds, Harry found himself running through a corridor that he recognized immediately. It was one he had taken many times as a student and one that was darkly ironic, given that he knew at which room it ended.

Before he knew it, Harry was standing in front of the entrance to the Library.

Only a brain like Lucius Malfoy's was twisted enough to think to hold Hermione hostage inside Hogwarts' Library.

Harry removed the Tracing Spell but still stood in front of the doors. His Auror training was telling him not to act too quickly, and he had to listen to that voice of reason. He couldn't just charge in there, spells blazing, and expect to not run into any snags. With that in mind, Harry cast an Invisibility Charm over himself before pounding once and very forcefully on the double doors. Quickly, Harry backed up against the wall and waited.

With a loud creak, the set of double doors opened and out stepped another guard clad in black and wearing that same snake mask. The guard glanced around, searching for the source of the noise. As he did, Harry silently crept up on the guard and used his wand to conjure up a bluish vapor that surrounded the guard's head. The guard dropped to the floor heavily after the vapor managed to seep underneath the silver mask.

One down, but who knew how many more there were to go.

Harry slipped into the Library as quietly as if here floating through the air. From the rays of sunshine falling through the windows, Harry was able to ascertain that it was day, which meant he had been in The Room of Requirement for quite a long time.

"Davis?" called out a gruff voice from in front of Harry. "What was it?"

Davis, Harry knew, was out of commission. And it was time to do the same to the person coming his way. Harry moved to the left, but he didn't anticipate there being a chair in his way. He bumped into it and caused it to bang into the table it was situated underneath.

The second guard heard this and fired a barrage of spells in the direction of the noise. Abandoning the Invisibility Charm, Harry propelled himself onto the table and rolled across it, making sure to land on his feet. The spells meant for him went into the wall and created smoking craters. In return, Harry sent a colorless spell the guard's way that wrapped itself around the villain and lifted him into the air, causing electrical sparks in the process.

The spell made the guard's body shake as the electrical currents increased in frequency and strength until finally, he was dropped like a rag doll to the ground.

Harry moved out into the Library, wand leveled steadily in front of him, and began combing through the rows of bookshelves. So far, there was no sign of Hermione anywhere.

Suddenly, someone grabbed Harry from behind and pushed him into a nearby bookshelf. Harry felt fists beat down against his back, trying to force him down onto his face. But Harry snuck in a jab with his elbow, and he felt it connect with a soft surface that could only have been his assailant's gut. Harry twirled around while keeping the tip of his wand at the wizard's chest and sent him flying through the air and into a bookshelf.

Harry sprinted to the end of the row and came out at the area where the Librarian, Madam Pince, had her desk.

There she was.

Hermione was bound and gagged in the desk chair. The moment her eyes found Harry, she let out a desperate and muffled noise through the gag.

His pulse quickening while his heart soared, Harry closed the distance between them in less than five seconds. As he removed Hermione's gag, Harry hurriedly took in her appearance. She was wearing a tight-fitting gray T-shirt that was soaked with sweat around the collar, and equally tight-fitting jeans above brown shoes. Once the gag was gone, Harry passionately pressed his lips against Hermione's in one giant kiss, which Hermione whimpered into. Harry continued with a few more quick kisses before he set about untying Hermione's restraints.

"We're getting out of here…together," he told Hermione, still focused on the task at hand. Harry undid the first of four bonds.

"Harry!" Hermione called out, looking at something behind him.

A cripplingly tight grip got a hold of Harry's shoulders and tossed him back and into a table. Through the stars in his vision that was a result of Harry hitting his head against the edge of the table, he could make out Lucius Malfoy standing over him.

"You're pathetically predictable," Malfoy sneered. "So is Weasley. I knew he wouldn't have the guts to kill you!"

"I never gave him the chance," said Harry as he rose to his feet. "And like you said, whoever said anything about killing me?"

"Harry, what's he talking about?" Hermione asked.

"I'll fill you in later, Hermione. Now, Lucius, get away from my girlfriend." With each word, Harry drew closer and closer until he was able to punch Malfoy in the jaw with as much force as he could summon.

Malfoy tumbled to the ground and a split-second later, Harry threw himself onto him. All notions of a civilized wizard duel had just went out the window; this had become a full-on brawl, magic be damned. The two of them struggled heatedly, each trying to gain the upper hand by using as much brute force as possible.

Harry grunted as Malfoy kneed him in the gut and slammed his cane against Harry's left side. Whether Malfoy had broken any ribs with the blow or not wasn't important as Harry had to slink to the floor. He was allowed very few seconds of reprieve before Malfoy brought his cane down furiously. Harry rolled to avoid it and on Malfoy's second swing, Harry caught the cane, wrenched it from its owner's hands and used it to knock Malfoy's feet out from under him.

On the ground, Malfoy grabbed his cane, igniting a struggle over control of the object. Malfoy got in a fast jab to Harry's jaw, and that gave him enough time to climb to his feet and remove his wand from its concealed hiding place in the cane.

Harry staggered back, but shot a spell in Malfoy's direction, which Malfoy avoided by spinning quickly behind a bookshelf. It became quiet, almost too quiet for Harry's liking. Cautiously, and with his wand at the ready, Harry approached the edge of the bookshelf. He came to it, making sure to keep out of sight from the other side, and glanced confidently at Hermione. Counting silently to three, Harry whipped around the corner.

Malfoy was nowhere to be seen.

Slowly, Harry walked forward, prepared to strike at any moment. But it wasn't until Harry reached the end of the bookshelf that the moment came.

A flash of green nearly missed Harry as it flew by right in front of him. Using his lightning-quick Auror reflexes, Harry fired back a spell of his own, but again Malfoy escaped from it. Harry raced over to the bookshelf Malfoy had fled behind, but just like the first time, he came up empty-handed.

All of a sudden, the shelves of books exploded violently and Harry was thrown back against the next one. Fortunately, he was able to slow his momentum down enough so that the shelf he hit didn't topple over. Through the hole that had been blasted into the other shelf, Harry saw Malfoy, who sent another spell toward Harry.

But Harry managed to bring up his Shield Charm just in time. A quaking collection of energy threatened to engulf Harry as Harry put every bit of effort he could into sustaining the Shield Charm. Harry yelled out in rage as he bounced Malfoy's spell back onto him. This time, Malfoy wasn't fast enough to get away, and he was flung into the wall.

Harry used this opportunity to point his wand up and conjure a rope that rocketed toward the ceiling, but caught onto the top of the bookshelf just as Harry hoped. With a tug on his wand, Harry was lifted off of his feet and pulled along until he was on top of the bookshelf. From his new perspective, Harry had a clear view of the entire Library, which meant he could clearly see Hermione still tied to the chair below…but Malfoy was nowhere to be seen.

"Where is he?" he called down to Hermione, who was now trying to untie the ropes by herself.

"Right beside you," Malfoy's voice drawled to Harry's left.

Harry turned to see Malfoy standing on the next bookshelf over. The tops of the bookshelves were each wide enough to fit two people, so Harry and Malfoy each having one to themselves was more than beneficial.

Immediately, they fired a torrent of spells at each other. Most of them collided and exploded in midair and the others hit the walls.

Malfoy conjured up a rope of his own and wrapped it around Harry's waist, tugging hard. Harry was dragged through the air and jerked downward. He grabbed onto the edge of Malfoy's bookshelf, but just barely. The effort of hauling himself farther up strained Harry's muscles quite a bit, but he still got it done.

However, the instant Harry pulled himself up onto the shelf, Malfoy moved to push him back off, but Harry dived out of the way and got on Malfoy's other side. Once Malfoy regained his bearings, he attacked with a web-shaped spell that Harry had to lay on his stomach to avoid. The spell impacted against the huge window behind him and shattered it completely.

The shower of shards was halted as if caught by some invisible net. Not noticing this, Harry stood up just as the shards were pulled his way. Fortuitously, Harry turned just in time and erected a great blue shield around his entire body. The glass shards merely bounced harmlessly off of the shield and flew straight at an unsuspecting Malfoy. Malfoy brought his arms up in front of his face, but the pieces of glass still penetrated his unprotected skin.

Harry got rid of the shield, but that was a premature decision. Ropes appeared out of nowhere and wrapped themselves tightly around his wrists and ankles, rendering him motionless. Because he couldn't move, Harry dropped. He then received many kicks to various parts of his body as Malfoy lashed out angrily.

Every hit knocked the air out of Harry. He was prepared to just black out when the constant pain suddenly stopped, granting him time to recompose himself.

Looking up, Harry saw what, or rather who, had pulled Malfoy away. Hermione was dueling Malfoy with a fire in her eyes that Harry had rarely ever seen. Spells lit the air with multicolored flashes before two particular ones crashed together and caused a serious reaction. Hermione and Malfoy had to duck as a cacophony of beams flew in random directions around the Library and landed hard against the ground. Miniature explosions mushroomed in between the rows of bookshelves, like oversized bursts of flame in a fireplace.

Harry rolled over, trying to break free of his bonds. However, after a few strained tugs, the bonds suddenly evaporated and Harry was free. The walls of fire still burned as Harry picked himself up, as well as his wand. Harry and Hermione engaged Malfoy again, on both of his sides and making him work twice as hard.

When Malfoy lunged at Harry once more, Harry was ready for him. He caught Malfoy by his arms, which had gashes visible through torn fabric, and spun them both around so that Harry was now standing beside Hermione. After shoving Malfoy back a few feet, Harry gave Hermione a glance that silently told her what to do. As one, Harry and Hermione lifted their wands and launched green lines of light toward Malfoy. The cords wrapped around Malfoy's arms while propelling him back toward the shattered window.

While this happened, the cords came free of the wands. However, this allowed Malfoy to grab the cords, as they were still tied around him, and manipulated them like whips. Malfoy landed precariously on the window ledge while he worked the cords so that they fell toward the bookshelf.

Harry and Hermione realized what was happening in time and conjured up new ropes that fixed themselves to the piece of wall above the window. They jumped into the air just as the green cords made the bookshelf explode into a billion pieces. Harry and Hermione soared onto the window ledge, the same as Malfoy.

Due to the narrow footing, all three of them had to fight to keep their balance. Harry and Hermione flailed their arms while Malfoy grabbed onto the window frame. Everyone knew that there was only one possible resolution to this current predicament.

And that resolution came quicker than any of them anticipated.

Malfoy viciously lashed out with his leg, aimed at Harry, but Harry caught it. Out of reflex, Malfoy attempted to stay balanced by swinging his arms wildly. His right hand grazed Hermione's neck, but mainly her necklace. Malfoy pulled forcefully, which both dragged Hermione forward and snapped the necklace's chain. Harry let go of Malfoy's leg so he could catch Hermione while he also clutched onto part of the window frame.

Right after the necklace broke away, Hermione caught half of it in her fingers while Malfoy held onto the other half. Harry, meanwhile, caught Hermione around the waist.

"Hermione," Harry grunted, his voice indicating how strenuous this all was, "let go of the necklace!"

"But-…"

"Do it!"

Hermione looked sadly at the piece of jewelry for a few seconds. Obviously, she still didn't know Ron was still alive, so in turn she had no way of knowing that the necklace was meaningless now. At last, she let the small silver chain slip away.

A reverse effect happened. As Harry pulled Hermione to safety, Malfoy fell to his doom. His eyes widened in horror as he plummeted down to the school grounds, grabbing uselessly at support that wasn't there. The sound that his body made when it slammed into the ground was slightly muffled from such a high point, but Harry knew it was still lethal.

Lucius Malfoy lay awkwardly on the grassy grounds, some of his limbs bent at sickening angles; he was dead.

Harry breathed a sigh of relief as he rested his forehead against Hermione's. "Let's get down, shall we?"

Together, they Apparated back down to ground level. It was now free of flames, but the debris of the shattered bookshelf still remained. Harry and Hermione embraced tenderly.

"I'm so glad you're safe," Harry whispered into Hermione's ear before kissing her cheek.

"The feeling's mutual about you," replied Hermione, hugging him tighter. She leaned back and gave Harry a crooked smile. "So I'm officially your girlfriend now?"

Harry, his arm around Hermione's shoulders, began guiding her out of the Library. "Yeah, I thought that was obvious. Oh, and about the necklace…you won't be feeling so bad about it in a bit."

After Harry and Hermione had exited the Library, a hooded figure emerged from a shadowy corner. The figure walked over to the desk chair Hermione had been tied to and reached underneath. The air rippled around where the figure's hand was placed until something was revealed: The Book.

The figure opened The Book to see the pages now filled with lines of readable text.


	24. Memories & Answers

**A/N: Only 5 more chapters left after this one. We're getting closer to the end...**

CHAPTER TWENTY-FOUR

_**MEMORIES & ANSWERS**_

The entrance to the Great Hall was flanked by two official-looking Aurors when Harry and Hermione reached it. At first, the Aurors blocked the doorway but they soon stepped aside to let them pass once they registered who they were.

The Great Hall itself was occupied by many more Aurors, most of whom had set up various work stations along the four House tables. Three dimensional blueprints of the castle floated above the tables, each one focusing on a different level of Hogwarts. Barnes and Marcus were examining the level of the Library when Harry and Hermione approached them.

Marcus was the one to glance up first. "Looks like we can cancel the rescue operation." The remark caused Barnes to tear his gaze away from the blueprints as well.

"Always the man of action, aren't you, Harry?" said Barnes. "You know, at times, I'm reminded of myself when I look at you. The feeling is both nostalgic and reassuring."

"I'm surprised, Liam," quipped Harry. "It's not often you give out a compliment without a criticism attached at the end."

"Well, such an exemplary job deserves the praise."

"Speaking of which," spoke up Marcus, "I'd hate to see how Lucius Malfoy looks." Marcus gestured toward Harry's cuts as Draco joined the group.

"Yeah, about that," Harry began as he shot Draco a mixed expression, "there's a body waiting for you underneath the Library window." An image of both the broken window and Malfoy's broken limbs came to mind. "Well, what's left of them."

Draco rubbed the back of his head as he excused himself. Harry and Hermione stared half-compassionately after him. He had just become what Harry was: an orphan. In that sense, Harry had the most sympathy for him.

"Well, we can trade," Barnes replied. "Your dead body for the living one I have for you." He glanced pointedly at something behind Harry.

Harry turned to see Jones, the shady individual whom they had encountered back at the church near Grimmauld Place. Jones wore a buttoned-down shirt under a sports jacket and jeans adorned his legs. But what was the most noticeable thing about Jones' appearance was the case strapped around his back that looked like a violin case, but longer and without the bulging bottom.

"I told you we'd see each other again," Jones said simply.

"Yeah," agreed Harry. "Yeah you did. But why now?"

"Because I have something that can help you stop Rene Garrett once and for all."

Harry pointed at the case behind Jones. "Is that what that is?"

"Partly," Jones answered as he reached into his pocket. This made Barnes and Marcus whip out their wands, but Harry gestured for them to put them down. "We'll get to that after you view this." Jones produced another memory vial and handed it off to Harry.

"You must be one important man if your memories are so valuable," Hermione said. "If I were you, I'd avoid Gilderoy Lockhart."

The joke made Harry smirk and cock an eyebrow. Normally, Hermione was more serious-minded in situations like these, but he guessed narrowly escaping death had lightened her mood somewhat.

"Do you still have the one I gave you earlier?" Jones asked.

Feeling deflated, Harry stuck his hand into one of his pockets, expecting to close his fingers around nothing. But instead, the smooth feeling of two separate vials met his palm. Surprised, Harry removed his hand to see, indeed, the two memory vials he had already been carrying around.

"Amazingly…I do. But I don't understand."

"I took the liberty of installing Anti-Detection Charms over the vials," Hermione explained. "I just didn't have the chance to tell you."

Harry gave Hermione a grateful look. "Right. Well, I suppose Hermione and I are going to be busy for a while. In the meantime, Jones, I want you to tell my associates here everything you know."

Barnes cleared his throat pointedly. "Wait. Who is this man, and how can we trust anything he has to say?"

"I'll let him explain the details." Harry balled his hand into a fist around the memory vials. "Right now, Hermione and I have long overdue business to attend to. We'll be back when we're done. Is McGonagall in her office?"

"No, she's with a few of our men we brought along," Marcus responded. "But if you need to get inside, I'm sure you already know how to."

Harry nodded at this, and he and Hermione trotted toward the doors.

"And Harry," Jones said after the couple had walked by him, "whatever happens, whatever you see…try not to get so hung up that you find yourself dangling in a noose."

With a silent acknowledgement of the words, Harry resumed guiding Hermione out of the Great Hall. On the way, they motioned for Draco to stay put.

The odd combination of anticipation and dread became greater and greater as Harry and Hermione drew closer to the Headmistress's Office. The thing that Harry had been subconsciously avoiding for a few days finally demanded to be dealt with. Even though he had two additional memories to view, it was Ginny's left-behind memory that was making Harry feel as nervous as a young kid about to be punished for breaking the rules. And because Harry was so preoccupied with worry, he was snapped out of his trance when he and Hermione found themselves at the door of McGonagall's office.

There was no sound in the sun-soaked office except for the low chatter of the portraits. Harry noticed that once he and Hermione entered the office, the volume of the conversations became almost conspiratorial. But they paid no attention to the eyes following their every move as they made their way over to where they knew the Penseive to be. Harry opened the secret compartment in the wall by stepping on a special stone in the floor. The stone descended a few inches at the touch, causing the wall in front of them to slide aside and reveal the large stone basin that Harry knew all too well.

Harry heaved the Penseive up into his arms and carried it over to the Headmasters' Desk, setting it down in the center of everything. Inside the basin was that trademark glowing white light that looked like it could match the sunshine in its brightness. With the shimmering light reflecting off of his glasses, Harry held up the three vials in his hand. He had no idea which one to view first, so he just randomly chose the one on the end of the line.

The pop that came with the cork being removed echoed inside the silent office. The thick, milky liquid cascaded down quickly into the Penseive until the vial was empty. The contents of the Penseive swirled rapidly until the liquid settled and provided a window into the past.

Without taking the time to discern the location, Harry and Hermione exhaled deep breaths and leaned their faces closer to the Penseive until they felt the familiar sensation of the floor pushing them all the way into the basin.

They fell into a bleakly lit room with no windows. There was, however, a desk situated in front of the far wall, behind which Rene Garrett sat, looking calm and in control. The other walls had men with menacing and stony faces standing before them. To Harry, it seemed like everyone was waiting for something.

At first, Harry's instinct was to approach Garrett, but he then remembered that this memory belonged to Jones. But Jones, however, was nowhere to be seen. Nowhere to be seen, that was, until he turned around and was pretty much forced to stumble back a few feet. Jones was standing in very close proximity to Harry and Hermione, staring at nothing in particular.

"Jones." Garrett's voice bounced loudly off the walls.

Jones wordlessly glided over to Garrett and stood to his left.

"Are we sure it's him?" Garrett asked in a tone that indicated his anticipation.

"We're fairly positive, Rene," Jones replied. "He was found on the outskirts of the woods. He was alone, so it was an ideal opportunity."

Garrett nodded in satisfaction. "I'd say so."

Suddenly, the door to the room opened with a reverberating click. Three bulky men rushed inside; one was carrying a wooden chair and the other two were dragging a figure along between them who had a bag covering his head. The chair was placed a short distance away from Garrett's desk and the figure was shoved down into it, their hands bound to it by glowing cords.

Garrett motioned with his hand and one of the burly men yanked the bag off of the person's head. Harry felt his breath catch in his throat as he realized that the person was Ron, but his reaction was nothing compared to Hermione's. She gasped as if struggling for air while drowning and shot her hands to her mouth.

Harry had informed her of how Ron was still alive during their walk from the Library to the Great Hall, but actually seeing Ron in the company of such individuals seemed to cement the fact into her mind. Out of sympathy, Harry gently placed his hand on her shoulder and stroked it with his thumb.

Ron glanced around the room frantically, taking in all the details he could. "What's going on? Where am I? Who are you people? Death Eaters?"

"No, Mr. Weasley," Garrett said, no trace of emotion in his voice. "We're not as barbaric as them."

"Y-you still haven't told me who you are."

Garrett tossed a small crest into the air, and it landed on Ron's lap. "The Brotherhood of the Black Serpent. You've been a person of interest to us for quite some time. And you're here right now because we have a sort of job offer for you."

Ron looked up from the crest and stared at Garrett in silence for a few moments. "I was hoping to come across some Death Eaters, but you seem even better." The fear that had been so prevalent in Ron's voice before was now completely gone.

"And why is that, exactly?" Garrett inquired casually, leaning back in his chair.

"Well, for one, it won't be so hard to convince you to allow me into your ranks." Ron paused. He looked to be choosing his words carefully. "If you are who I think you are, I'll commit myself to you."

"Who do you think we are?"

"People interested in destroying Harry Potter." When Garrett remained quiet, Ron continued. "I've left the ones I used to call my friends in the woods to fend for themselves; I abandoned them. Harry Potter is fighting a losing battle. Not only that, but he's taken from me everything that I ever loved: my family…and now Hermione."

"You couldn't control such things," Garrett said, his voice now tinged with sympathy.

"THAT'S THE POINT!" Ron yelled. "I'm tired of being controlled by fate! I want to make my own. I did everything I could, and yet she chose him anyway. They may not be able to see it, but I sure as hell can."

"And so could a Seer, apparently." Garrett leaned forward as Ron gazed at him in angry confusion. "Ronald, a few days ago, and this is the truth…a Seer made a prophecy concerning Harry and Hermione. The prophecy said that The Boy Who Lived would start to grow closer to a young woman whose heart is already desired by another. It said that it was their destiny to be together." Ron closed his eyes and gritted his teeth.

Harry and Hermione, meanwhile, glanced at each other with their mouths slackened.

"I've been on the wrong side this whole time," Ron breathed. "He's stolen _everything_ from me. And I want him to suffer for it. I'll do whatever it takes to make that happen."

Garrett got up from his seat and strolled over to one of his guards. He held out his hand and was given a wand. With a snap of Garrett's fingers, a tightly bound man appeared in the corner. The man was blindfolded and gagged, and a sobbing noise was coming from him. Garrett took three steps forward and held the wand out to Ron. Ron's restraints disappeared of their own accord.

"You say you want to pledge yourself to the Brotherhood. First, you must prove it."

Ron stared uneasily at the wand, and then at the man. "What?"

"Kill him, and you'll get whatever you want from now on. You'll no longer be a pawn in a twisted game. You'll be someone in control of the players. That is, if you _really_ want to be in control of your own life."

Ron shot a glance at the hostage. "Who is he?" he mumbled.

"It doesn't matter. You can either kill him or go on being miserable in a life you don't want anymore. Do you _really_ want this?"

Ron fixed his gaze on the wand for the longest time, his eyes completely unreadable. He swallowed hard before standing up, grabbing the wand and aiming it at the man.

"Avada Kedavra!"

The green surge made the man go limp while it lit Ron's face in a ghastly fashion. There was an intensity there that had never been seen before. It took Ron a few minutes to finally lower the wand.

When he did, Garrett stepped toward him again. "Welcome to The Brotherhood of The Black Serpent. Your first assignment is to integrate yourself back into your old life. Keep Harry and Hermione apart by any means necessary and help Harry defeat the Dark Lord. It's imperative that he be removed from power before we proceed any further."

Harry and Hermione didn't get to hear Ron's response, because that was where the memory ended. They soon found themselves back in McGonagall's office, but neither of them said anything for a minute. Finally, Hermione broke the silence.

"Harry…"

But Harry held up his hand to cut her off. Before he could carry on any type of conversation about what they had just witnessed, he had to see what else was in store for them. So, Harry uncorked the remaining two vials and poured both memories into the Penseive.

Harry and Hermione leaned back into the stone basin and fell into a new setting. With a cold stop of the heart, Harry realized where they now were: the kitchen of The Burrow. Furthermore, Ginny was standing over the sink, dabbing her eyes with a tissue and making strained whimpering noises; she was crying.

There was a sudden knock on the door, and Ron entered. "Hey," he greeted softly, shutting the door behind him. Only Harry and Hermione noticed that he secretly locked it. "I heard what happened."

Ginny sniffed thickly and raised her head to face her brother. Her eyes were as red as her hair. "Are you here to check up on me?"

"Of course," Ron answered softly. "That's what families are for."

Harry's skill at reading people was telling him just how fake Ron was being at the moment, and it was making his blood boil. At the same time, Harry felt Hermione lace her fingers into his.

Ron closed the distance between him and Ginny, but Ginny abruptly pushed him away with a burst of aggression. "Don't you dare touch me!" she snapped as she brushed past Ron and leaned onto the back of a chair.

"Are you mad at me?" Ron asked somewhat confusedly.

Ginny whirled around. "I think it's understandable, given where you just came from."

Ron sighed heavily, scratching above his right eyebrow. "You weren't supposed to overhear that."

Ginny nodded, her eyes welling up with fresh tears. "I wish I didn't." She reached into her pocket while still looking at her brother with heartbroken eyes. In a lightning-fast move, Ginny shot a spell at Ron that narrowly made contact with him and caused pots and pans hanging on the opposite wall to crash onto the floor. Ron lashed back with a spell of his own that hit Ginny and sent her sprawling.

Ron approached his disarmed sister, keeping his wand aimed at her. "I'm in the middle of something here, Ginny, and I can't allow _anyone_ to compromise it."

Ginny snatched her wand back up and hit her target this time, as Ron was propelled back onto the floor. As Ron was recuperating, Ginny conjured up a small vial before hurriedly touching her wand to her temple and extracted a memory strand. She placed the memory in the vial and stuffed the vial in her pocket seconds before Ron was standing over her again.

"Believe me, I wish there was another way." Ron glanced up momentarily, visibly mulling over a fresh thought. "In fact, you may have just presented a new possibility."

By now, Harry had sunk to his knees and Hermione was right there beside him with her arms around him.

"How could you betray us?" Ginny was crying again.

"I was betrayed first. I'm sorry, Ginny." Ron aimed his wand. "Avada-…"

The scene evaporated before Ron finished the curse, but Harry already knew how everything ended up. He gratefully leaned into Hermione's embrace and stood back up once they were in the last memory.

This one was the other one Jones had supplied, and indeed, the man in question was standing in front of Harry and Hermione, along with Garrett and a collection of other men. Their surroundings indicated that they were in some sort of antechamber inside what looked to be a castle from the stone foundation,

Two of Garrett's men were hunched over part of the wall, which had a square-shaped hole in it. Their arms were some ways inside the hole, and they were clearly struggling as if they were hauling something out. That suspicion was confirmed when a dust-covered box with a stretched length that took four slides to bring out into the open was revealed and subsequently set on the ground.

"Open it," Garrett commanded authoritatively.

There were two gold latches on the side that Garrett's cronies snapped open before slowly lifting the lid. Once the box was open, Garrett stepped closer to admire the contents, which cast his face in a silvery glow. As if handling chemically unstable material, Garrett gingerly reached into the box and removed what was inside.

It was a sword with a dazzlingly magnificent appearance. Even when the blade wasn't in direct contact with any sort of light, it gave off a hypnotically beautiful glint. The hilt was rusted gold and encrusted with a cornucopia of variously colored jewels. Just from a quick glance, one could tell it was a sword forged from magic.

Garrett gripped the hilt tightly and raised the weapon above his head. He then brought the blade down aggressively and sliced through the box like the solid wood was merely tissue paper. Once the box had been ripped in half, both halves crumbled into nothingness.

"Excalibur," Garrett breathed in reverence. "Whoever wields its power is invincible."

The scene evaporated in front of Harry and Hermione and restructured itself so that only Jones was the person in the antechamber. In his hands, Jones carried Excalibur and was casting worry-filled glances around him as if he was expecting to be barged in on at any moment. Jones was on his knees beside the hole in the wall and he rested Excalibur against the wall while he pulled out his wand. He shot one more look over his shoulder before he went to work.

Jones pointed his wand at Excalibur and muttered a few incomprehensible words. A clear light emanated from his wand and enveloped the majestic sword. It took a while for either Harry or Hermione to figure out what was going on, but the appearance of a second, identical sword beside Excalibur told them it was a Copying Charm.

Next, Jones shrank the real Excalibur down to the size of a pocketknife and stuffed it inside his pocket.

The scene once again vanished and an instant later, Harry and Hermione were standing over the Penseive, still looking down at the now milky white contents.

Harry, his mind already sifting through this whirlwind of information, backed away to sit down in one of the chairs in front of McGonagall's desk. Hermione sat down in the other one.

"I don't understand," said Hermione, her voice on the verge of cracking. "How could Ron just-…"

"It doesn't matter," Harry spat venomously. He didn't know whether Hermione was about to say "betray us" or "murder Ginny", but he took the question to apply to both. "The point is he did. Even if it was just out of impulsive anger, he still crossed the line. There's no coming back from what he's done."

"As much as I can't believe the things involving Ron," Hermione pressed on, her voice now shaking, "the thing that concerns me most…"

"Is the prophecy Garrett mentioned." Harry nodded. "Me too."

Hermione bit her lip nervously. "Is it true? Are we together just because some prophecy says we should be?" Her eyes darted around as she looked down, as if the ground had the answers inscribed into it.

Harry got up from his chair and knelt down in front of Hermione, taking her hands into his. "Listen to your heart. What does it tell you? I had a relationship with Ginny, but let's call that what it really was: an obligation. Not once during that time did I feel as I do now. I look at you, and I ask myself on question. Why did it take this long for us to realize that we're meant for each other. I love you, Hermione Granger. If anything, that prophecy was more of a confirmation than a prediction."

Hermione launched herself into Harry's arms and kissed him as passionately and as forcefully as she could. Harry kissed her back with equal measure and it soon turned into the greatest kiss the two of them had shared up until this point. They only broke apart when they needed to replenish their air supply

"Let's not dwell on the past, then," Hermione whispered as she rested her forehead against Harry's. "Ron made his choices…and it looks like we've made ours."

Half an hour later, Harry and Hermione found themselves back in the Great Hall. Specifically, they were clustered together with Barnes, Marcus, Draco and Jones near the Head Table where the professors always sat.

"This is the most serious security breach the Auror division has had in years," Marcus remarked darkly.

"But the purpose of Ron's infiltration wasn't so broad," Barnes pointed out. He looked fixedly at Harry. "It was personal. So we can assume any sensitive information regarding our operations is still safe."

"We also have to assume that Ron and the people he's in league with will try to contact us with demands, seeing as how our searches were unable to turn up The Book," said Marcus.

"They may have The Book," Harry interjected, "but we the sword to match their knife…quite literally." He motioned toward Jones, who nodded in understanding.

Jones turned to the Head Table and placed the large case he still held onto the smooth, solid surface. This case had latches on it too, and after Jones undid them and stepped back to provide a clear view of what was inside, everyone else took a collective step forward.

"We have the only weapon powerful enough to destroy The Book," informed Hermione. "Excalibur."


	25. Ancient Magic

**A/N: We're getting closer to the end! Only 4 chapters left! The next 2 will be the big Final Battle, then the last 2 will wrap everything up. So, enjoy this new chapter!**

CHAPTER TWENTY-FIVE

_**ANCIENT MAGIC**_

"We've looked through everything we could find," said Barnes. "Historical records, old case files…but none contain reference of any sort to this Brotherhood of the Black Serpent. It's like they don't exist."

"Or they've remained under the radar long enough to avoid detection," offered Harry.

The table inside The Situation Room of Auror Headquarters was crowded by Harry, Hermione, Barnes, Draco and Jones. Another three-dimensional holograph, this one of London itself, took up the center of the table while the wall was covered by a map of the city, individually labeled dots representing either people or objects.

"I can assure you they're real," Jones intoned steadily. "I spent the last three years in their ranks. Even though I was merely a low-level employee, I know enough about them."

"So tell us how it is that they've managed to stay invisible all this time," prompted Barnes as he leaned forward against the table and staring evenly at Jones.

"Because they _want_ it that way," Jones replied darkly. "Secrecy, when utilized, can be the perfect weapon. They kept their operations subtle enough so that it all appeared to be just the work of the Death Eaters…but they've been building power and recruiting members. Not only that, they've been biding their time. Searching for something and killing anyone who gets in their way."

"The Book of Merlin?" asked Hermione.

"Most likely," nodded Jones. "But who knows? I mean, there's an abundance of powerful artifacts capable of crippling civilizations. Who's to say The Book isn't just one piece of a larger puzzle?"

"He has a point," agreed Harry. "We can't be sure of anything until we bring in prisoners to interrogate."

As if on cue, the door to the Situation Room opened and Marcus strolled in. Everybody looked expectantly at him, to which Marcus responded, "Garrett has disappeared without a trace. I've sent more of our people out to scour the city," Marcus walked beside the map, focusing his gaze on the intricacies of the map.

"He's probably somewhere with Ron formulating the next step of their plan," Hermione said distantly, her eyes glassy as she sat down. Harry took the seat next to her.

"MI5 has put a warning out on both Garret and Ron," Marcus continued as he closed the door behind him, "but I have a feeling the odds are against us on this one."

"For now," Draco grunted. Ever since he received news of his father's death, Draco's mood ranged from neutral to troubled. Yes, Lucius Malfoy had been an unscrupulous person and a very cold father and Draco was glad to be rid of him, but at the same time, he felt guilty over having such thoughts. Lucius had still been his father, and not having him around would affect Draco's life…he just wasn't sure how.

"There has to be something we can do other than sit around and wait for a lead to fall into our laps," Hermione remarked dryly.

Just then, the door opened again and a blonde female Auror poked her head inside. "Excuse me, Mr. Barnes," she said in a smooth voice, "there's a message for you and Harry coming in over the Floo Network in your office."

"Tell them I'll take it later," Barnes answered dismissively.

"But it's Rene Garrett and Ron Weasley. They say it's a matter of life and death."

These words made everyone shoot their gazes up to the blonde Auror, their faces slackened in disbelief. Things remained this way for a few seconds until Barnes raced through the doorway and scurried up the adjacent stairs toward his office. Harry and the others were close behind him. But halfway up the stairs, Harry whipped around and held out a hand to stop Jones.

"Wait. I don't think you should come."

Jones arched an eyebrow. "Why?"

"Because if Garrett still hasn't figured out that you've betrayed him, I don't want to give it away."

To this, Jones nodded in agreement. "I'll just stay downstairs then, shall I?"

Harry shifted his stare to Draco. "Stay with him. Make sure nothing happens." He and Hermione waited until Draco and Jones had reentered The Situation Room until they completed the climb to Barnes' office.

The office in question was an interesting piece of architecture. It combined the past with the present in terms of its layout. The main wall was entirely composed of bricks, complete with a fireplace built into the center of it. The surrounding walls, however, were the polar opposite: glass that allowed any occupant an unhindered view of the massive collection of bullpens below. Barnes' desk was against the left side while bookshelves flanked the fireplace on either side.

But standing on the multicolored rug in the center of the office were not only Harry and Hermione's associates, but Ron and Rene Garrett as well. After Harry and Hermione noticed this, both Barnes and Marcus motioned for them to stay calm.

"I see we're all here," Garrett said conversationally. "Excellent."

Harry narrowed his eyes in intense suspicion. "And _why_ exactly are we here?"

Ron smirked. "A business transaction." He turned his attention to Hermione, who was glaring at him with such hatred, it looked as if she would burn a hole through his chest at any minute. "Hello, Hermione. You look good."

"Don't you _dare_ speak to me!" Hermione snarled as she stepped forward menacingly. "How can you just stand there so idly when you've destroyed every previous relationship you ever had?"

"On my two feet, and with little effort," Ron replied snidely.

Even though it wasn't entirely visible, Harry could tell something snapped inside Hermione. She suddenly lunged forward and lashed out with her fist, which connected with Ron's left cheek, but didn't have the desired effect. Instead of making Ron stagger back from the blow, Ron's face erupted into blue flames, only to reform itself just as quickly.

"Good thing I'm not really there," Ron sneered. "That looked like it would've hurt."

Hermione growled and moved to lash out again, but Harry came up behind her and held her back.

"Tame that lioness of yours, Harry," advised Ron. "She seems to have developed quite a fighting spirit ever since falling in love with you."

"If we can get back on track here," Garrett said in annoyance as he raised his voice, "that'd be great. Now, like Ron said, we're here to negotiate."

"Ron can tell you himself that we don't negotiate with criminals," Barnes stated.

Garrett regarded Barnes with amusement. "Even if it involves the safety of your own people?" With a snap of his fingers, Garrett summoned forth the flames in Barnes' fireplace, which turned a shade of midnight blue as they flew out and formed two new figures in the office: Ian and Ann.

Ian and Ann, however, were made up of blue flames rather than flesh.

"Mr. MacGregor and Miss Flynn, as you can see, are still alive and safe with us at our current location," Garrett informed them matter-of-factly. "And they'll remain that way as long as you comply with our demands."

"What _is _your current location?" inquired Harry.

"And what are your demands?" Hermione finished.

"We know you have the real Excalibur," Ron said accusatorially. "We're willing to trade your Aurors for it. Bring the sword to The Silver Castle. For half an hour, we'll give you a rite of passage via Barnes' fireplace."

"How do you know we won't just show up with backup so we can take you down?" Marcus asked.

"By all means, bring as many Aurors as you want," invited Garrett. "In fact, we'd love to have a challenge, seeing as we've recently acquired control of The Book."

Harry scoffed. "How are we supposed to believe that?"

"Merely take a look out the window." Garrett swept his hand in a wide arc, and a portion of Barnes' glass wall behind his desk was manipulated and shimmered until a window above city level materialized.

Harry and Barnes were the ones to step toward the newly erected window to peer out at the view of London it provided. The moment they saw what was happening out there, blood turned to ice in their veins.

It was absolute chaos. Pedestrians were running down the streets as if they were being chased by something, but there was nothing behind them. Nothing, that is, except for a continuous wave of explosions in buildings, each one rocking the air violently and sending out shockwaves that were visible to the naked eye. But that wasn't all. The asphalt of the street was being ripped up, creating a crater that stretched down the entire length of street. A few people were thrown sideways into cars as a result.

All of this by itself would have been threatening enough, but the menace didn't end there. A light green vapor hung in the air, and it was making the fleeing Muggles clutch at their faces while screaming in agony. Harry couldn't recall seeing such mayhem out in the open in recent memory.

He whirled around to glare daggers at Garret and Ron. "What have you done?"

"A little demonstration of the capabilities of ancient magic, that's all," said Garrett calmly. "And it'll remain such as long as you give us back Excalibur."

"How do you even know what you have is a fake?" Hermione asked.

Ron gave Hermione an amused stare. "Please, don't be so naïve, Hermione. It's relatively easy to tell when a sword contains no magical abilities."

"So unless you want London to experience a bigger, more devastating wave of destruction," Garrett instructed, "you'll bring Excalibur to The Silver Castle within the next…twenty-five minutes." Garrett consulted his watch. "Otherwise, you'll find that the terror Voldemort wrought was the work of a tempermental toddler by comparison. Hope to see you soon."

And with that, Garrett and Ron, along with the fiery representations of Ian and Ann, vanished after another outburst of flame engulfed them all and retracted back into the fireplace. In their wake, the flames burned green, signifying that a passage to The Silver Castle had been left open.

Outside, the dark magic that had been flowing through the streets abruptly stopped.

Barnes turned around to address Marcus. "Get in touch with MI5. Concoct a story to give to the Muggle press about what just happened, and be prepared to perform quite a few Memory Charms."

Marcus nodded and exited the office, leaving Barnes alone with Harry and Hermione.

"We have to take this opportunity before things get out of hand," said Hermione.

"I agree," acquiesced Barnes. "Which is why I won't be sending the two of you in alone. We need to hit them hard and end this today. There's only one way of sending in backup with you undetected."

"Invisibility Charms," Harry and Hermione suggested simultaneously.

"Indeed. I'm going to go rally the troops, you two reacquire Excalibur and meet me back here in ten minutes."

Everyone departed to their respected destinations. When Harry and Hermione walked back into The Situation Room, Draco and Jones immediately got to their feet.

"What's going on?"

"We're taking them down. Now," Harry answered Draco. He looked at Jones. "In the meantime, you're going into protective custody. You're still our connection to The Brotherhood, we can't risk you being out in the open." Harry regarded Draco once more. "Draco-…"

"You don't need me anymore," Draco cut him off.

"What?"

"We only needed each other because it was the best way of getting to my father. Now that he's dead, I don't see how I could be of any more use to you."

Draco began walking toward the door, but was halted by Harry sticking his arm out in front of him.

"Stop," Harry commanded. "Do you remember what you told me when all this began? You said you wanted to earn my trust. Well, so far, you've done a very good job of that. But if you want to fully gain it, then help Hermione and I bring the people your father was supporting to justice. You've proven so far that that you're ten times the man he was, so go the extra mile and solidify that fact. Please."

"But more than that," Hermione added on, "prove to everybody _else _that you're a changed man. Everybody's capable of change, so now's the time to put behind you any notions of blood supremacy and corruption. Now's the time to be whoever you _want to be_."

Harry held out his hand, to which Draco looked contemplatively down at. "Are you with us?"

Draco looked back up and stared Harry directly in the eyes. In that instant, Harry saw a vulnerability in Draco's eyes that seemed to communicate what his answer would be. Sure enough, Draco extended his arm and firmly grasped Harry's hand in his.

"Okay," he said confidently. "Let's do this."


	26. The Silver Castle

**A/N: Here's the Final Battle, spread out over 2 chapters. After these, there are only 2 other chapters left for the whole story. I REALLY had fun writing these chapters, so I hope you enjoy them.**

CHAPTER TWENTY-SIX

_**THE SILVER CASTLE**_

Ten minutes later, Harry, Hermione and Draco were standing in front of Barnes' fireplace along with a group of battle-ready Aurors. Barnes and Marcus were on their left.

"You all know what to do," Barnes instructed them. "This needs to be clean and simple, which isn't that challenging since The Silver Castle is invisible to _all_ wandering eyes, not just Muggles. We need either Ron or Garrett alive." The last statement he directed more toward Harry and Hermione more than anyone else.

Harry gazed at Barnes over the top of his glasses. "It's not Garrett you need to be worried about."

Barnes returned Harry's stern stare. "Harry…"

"We're not making any assurances," Harry said. "But we'll do our best with Ron."

Knowing that was the most he was going to get out of them, Barnes nodded. "This may be our only shot at regaining The Book." He went back to addressing everybody. "There's no room for error, and I feel I don't need to remind any of you of the stakes. Part of an Auror's job is to yield results, so make sure the ones today are positive rather than negative."

Considering the situation, that was the best motivational speech the Aurors were likely to get. Harry refocused his gaze on his backup, all of whom raised their wands to their heads and disappeared completely in a matter of seconds. The stealth part of the plan was now set.

Across his back, Harry wore the case that Jones had concealed Excalibur in only hours before. True to their word, they were bringing the actual weapon along because they all knew that Excalibur was the only thing capable of defeating The Book. The only issue was figuring out how to string along Ron and Garrett long enough to use Excalibur to their advantage. As far as that part of the plan was concerned, Harry and Hermione were still working on that.

"Good luck," Marcus offered encouragingly as Harry, Hermione and Draco all moved closer to the green flames. The three of them nodded their thanks right before they stepped into the flames.

Once they did, the trio felt their bodies being tugged forward and their heads spun at a dizzying rate until all the movement ceased and they found themselves in a new environment.

This environment was very spacious, lit by both candles adorning the walls and sunlight that streamed in through windows high above and fell across the floor. The foundation of the building that wasn't covered by enormous crests or fabric banners was obviously pure silver, which glinted in the light. Whether it was bricks forged from silver or a flawless mold of the material itself, Harry wasn't sure, but all that mattered was that they were where they needed to be.

Ahead of them was a grand staircase which led to the upper level of the Main Hall. But above that second level were many more levels that seemed to stretch to the sky itself. At the tip top of the inner workings of The Silver Castle was a skylight composed of multicolored pieces of stained glass, and it was sending a rainbow spectrum of assorted colors spreading around the Main Hall, casting it in a shower of different colors. However, that wasn't the only thing Harry noticed upon looking up. The most curious parts of all those upper levels were staircases that were angled in every possible direction; up, down, sideways, you name it, they were so.

"You made it with time to spare, I see." Garrett's voice echoed ominously throughout the castle. He was standing at the top of the main staircase behind what looked like a podium with The Book open on top of it. At the bottom of the stairs stood Ron, who carefully started to approach the trio, wand in plain sight.

At the same time, Harry felt a quick shift in the air behind him that signaled the arrival of their reinforcements.

"Show me the sword," Ron ordered, his wand aimed directly between Harry's eyes.

Calmly, Harry slipped the strap of the case off of his shoulders and placed the large box at his feet. Reading Ron's expression, Harry kicked the case over to Ron, who bent down while never letting his glare leave his targets.

Ron lifted the lid back to reveal Excalibur, its brilliantly bright appearance made even more so in all of the light. With a ginger touch, Ron grazed his fingers across the blade.

"Ian and Ann?" Hermione asked pointedly.

The question made Ron tear his gaze away from Excalibur and straighten back up. He inclined his head to the right, where two men had suddenly appeared. Those men turned into an archway and each produced two people in their grasp: Ian and Ann. They looked to be relatively unharmed.

"As promised," said Ron. "Now, you can kindly take your sheep and return to the barn."

Harry quickly shot a glance to Ian and Ann that made his intentions clear. They gave the subtlest of understanding looks.

"You honestly expect us to walk away from this?" Harry posed sarcastically. "Two powerful artifacts in the possession of a group of dark wizards…sorry, that's grounds for sticking around."

Ron smirked, and the confident gesture was reflected in his eyes. "Yes, but do the math." Even more Brotherhood members materialized out of the shadows. "You're outnumbered."

Harry casually let his eyes take in all of the fresh figures, and a smile of his own cracked his lips. "You might want to crunch those numbers again."

Just as he expected, the other Aurors lifted their Invisibility Charms at that moment and all raised their wands.

"Give up," Harry stated simply.

Ron cast a quick look up toward Garrett, who had his face contorted in a way that suggested he was amused with all this. Garret gave Ron a brief nod. "You know, Harry," said Ron as he turned his head back, "the old me would normally comply with your threats, but it's a new day."

Both Harry and Ron shot spells out that sprang forth from their wands like tendrils, and they collided with each other forcefully enough that it sent both casters spiraling through the air in opposite directions.

This action sprung everybody else into it, as the Main Hall was flooded with a wave of noise and violence. Spells flew through the air and Hermione fired off a few of her own as she dashed over to Harry to help him back up.

Harry and Hermione raced over to the archway where Ian and Ann were currently elbowing the Brotherhood members who had been holding them in place. As Harry and Hermione were racing for cover, they noticed two things. One, Draco was occupying himself with dueling various Brotherhood members during his trek toward Garrett and two, Ron had recomposed himself and was readying an electrical spell with his wand.

The instant Ron sent it their way, Harry and Hermione directed their wands at the ground and caused a column to rise up out of nowhere and block the spell. Along with Ian and Ann, Harry and Hermione dived into the shelter the archway provided right as the ricochet of a stray spell licked at their feet.

"Nice to see you again," Ian greeted mock-pleasantly once Harry and Hermione picked themselves up.

"We're just glad you're both alive," said Harry through deep breaths.

"Believe me, we are too," Ian remarked.

"Okay, so what's the plan?" Ann asked straightforwardly.

Harry peeked out around the arch, but pulled his head back to avoid a red flash. "We need to get Excalibur back before we concern ourselves with Garrett." Making sure to keep his head out of range of anyone, Harry looked over at where Garrett was. It appeared as if he was reciting some sort of incantation from The Book, and at the same time, his robes billowed around him in a strong wind. Meanwhile, Ron was fighting off an Auror while holding onto Excalibur.

"So we need to get it from Ron first." Hermione voiced what Harry was thinking.

"Hermione and I will handle Ron." Harry fixed Ian and Ann with a firm stare. "You two handle the help." He gestured out at the henchmen.

"You got it." Ian leveled his wand.

Harry and Hermione flanked both sides of the archway, their wands angled down. "Okay, you're gonna need to lay down some cover fire," said Harry.

Ian and Ann came to the center of the archway and lunged out into the fight, immediately firing off a barrage of spells. Harry and Hermione ducked out behind them and made their way for Ron.

Harry conjured up a shield that blocked the line of spells that came his way. Harry extended his wand arm out from the shield and fired off his own spells, each one sent in various directions by gusts of wind sent out by Ron. Thinking fast, Harry flipped the shield up so that he held it like a Frisbee and tossed it through the air. During its flight, Harry ignited the shield in flames before casting another spell that made the shield explode once Harry judged it was close enough to Ron.

But Ron was quick enough to throw up a Shield Charm that had the flaming debris bounce away and impact hard against the walls and one nearly hit Garrett, who swerved out of the way just in time. The fireballs that smashed into the walls caused explosions that rocked the air and sent silver debris in all directions.

Ron halted some of the silver debris in midair and transformed the pieces into lethally sharp spikes. He swept his wand arm and threw the spikes toward Harry and Hermione. As the spikes rocketed through the air, a silver-blue light shone around the weapons as a result of their high speed, glowing menacingly.

Harry and Hermione leapt backwards to avoid the first few spikes, which were drilled into the ground with such force that cracks formed in the areas around them. Harry then blew up the spikes still flying at them and they exploded in a shower of miniscule pieces.

Next, Harry brought his wand down much like a tennis racket during a power serve, and a wild succession of energy balls fell in a perfect line in front of Ron's feet. This inspired Harry, Ron and Hermione to trade spells the traditional way, with each of them casting and blocking as rapidly as they could.

Draco, meanwhile, was faring as best he could, albeit more physically. Whenever he wasn't hitting Brotherhood members with spells, he was using his fists. During one of those altercations, Draco's wand was knocked out of his grasp and flew over the side of the staircase he was standing on. This left Draco to tackle the legs of the current Brotherhood member and propel him over his shoulders so that the Brotherhood crony went sliding roughly down the stairs. Draco turned to the side and jumped over the side of the staircase and landed beside it to scoop up his wand. But he had to block a spell that came his way. The effort shoved Draco back a few inches while digging his feet into the floor a good ways. Draco absorbed the spell with his wand and redirected it at the caster, who was sent soaring and hit the ground immobile. Draco jumped back into action.

Not too far away from Draco, Ian and Ann were in the midst of a furious duel of their own. The Brotherhood members they were fighting had abandoned wand usage and had pulled out gleaming swords. In response, Ian and Ann cast the spell that made their wands become shining swords of themselves and engaged the Brotherhood members in combat.

The swords met at specific arcs and clanged loudly enough to be heard over the roar of chaos in the Main Hall. Ian's sword was blocked at a downward angle, but the young Auror thought fast and head-butted the Brotherhood member. Ian ignored the bursts of pain in his head as he adjusted the sharpness wand sword and brought the blade down against his adversary's leg. The instant the sword made contact with the leg, dark green ropes sprang forth and wrapped themselves tightly around the Brotherhood member, who fell heavily to the ground. Just for good measure, Ian roundhouse punched the member in the face, which knocked him unconscious.

Ian twirled around to face his next opponent, but felt his left arm get sliced just above the elbow joint. Ian, who had been dueling with that arm, tossed his sword into the other hand and pressed on in his attack. But after a few good lunges and parries, Ian found his other arm to be cut with a sword, this gash deeper than the previous one. Before he had time to fully register the pain, Ian had his legs kicked out from underneath him.

"Ian!"

Ann had seen what happened and she quickly dispensed of her current fight partner by sending him into the far wall with a strong gust of air. She then skidded across the floor and collided hard with the Brotherhood member leering over Ian. Ann pulled Ian to his feet carefully, making sure not to open his wounds any more. She tore off pieces of her robes to apply over Ian's cuts.

As she did, more Brotherhood men began to surround the two of them. Ian and Ann both noticed this at the same time. Without a word spoken between them, Ian and Ann hugged into each other and blasted the Brotherhood members with a combined spell that sent them crashing very hard into the walls. Once they did that, Ian and Ann leaned away from each other while regarding each other awkwardly.

A stray spell shook them out of their stupor and they refocused on fighting off Garrett's men.

Harry and Hermione were still busy fighting Ron, and the battle was getting more heated by the minute. One spell aimed at Hermione was parried quite easily, but another, more unanticipated one exploded violently enough against Hermione's shield to send her twirling in midair and landing hard on the ground. Ron then lashed out at Harry with a shockwave of magic that emanated from his hands after he brought them together in a resounding clap. By now, Ron had stuffed Excalibur into his belt.

Harry blocked the shockwave and bounced it back on Ron, who was thrown down when the spell hit him. While Ron was picking himself up, Hermione did the same and with a look of ferocity in her eyes, she conjured up a rope that tied itself around Ron's legs. The other end of the rope connected with an overhang of an upper level of the castle and dangled Ron upside down. While Ron was in that position, Excalibur slipped out of Ron's belt and clashed against the floor beneath him. Harry immediately raced over to the freed sword, but Ron snapped the rope and dropped in front of Excalibur before Harry could get close enough to it. Ron delivered a swift kick to Harry that sent him staggering back far enough so that Ron could point his wand to the floor and cause another column to rise up from it, pushing Ron up closer to the upper levels of the castle.

Once Harry ha regained his composure, he and Hermione followed Ron's example and lifted themselves up into the air by way of a column of their own. Both columns rose up above the flashes of spells until they finally stopped beside the hallway of a new level. Ron leapt off his column and onto the new level; Harry and Hermione were right on his tail.

Harry and Ron faced each other down on the platform of the overhang.

"You know," Ron sneered, "there are advantages of being with The Brotherhood."

He shot out a burst of flame, which Harry and Hermione ducked under so that it exploded against the far wall.

"How about we show you some of the disadvantages?" Hermione said before she fired a green disc at Ron.

Ron used his wand to smash the disc in its center so that it disintegrated into many more discs that flew out all over the Main Hall and sliced into the walls and any other smooth, solid surface. Some narrowly missed Aurors and Brotherhood members.

Ron began drilling Harry and Hermione with spell after spell while driving them back into the sun-filled hallway. The spells bounced away from Harry and Hermione, due to some expert wand maneuvering, and devoured chunks of the walls they hit. But the real kicker came when Harry, Ron and Hermione all connected their spells in a massive explosion that threw them into opposite directions of the hallway. Ron was hurled back onto the platform as Harry and Hermione crashed through the door of a room at the other end.

Harry and Hermione shook their heads as they lay sprawled across the floor of what looked to be a closet of some sort. The ground was covered in a layer of a dark, powdery substance that ran through Harry's fingers. Harry didn't need the accompanying smell to tell him what it was.

It was gunpowder.

The walls of the small room were hidden behind stacks of barrels that no doubt were filled with the stuff. This gave Harry an idea.

"Hermione. We need to get these barrels out there."

"Which way do you prefer? Roll or throw?"

"Whatever works."

They began by rolling them across the length of the floor. Actually, Hermione rolled them out while Harry stood by the smashed door and waited until each barrel got close enough to the platform before shooting spells that caused them to blow up with great force.

Eventually, a few of the barrels rolled over the edge of the platform just as they exploded, making them rain down upon the people fighting below like huge droplets of fire. On ground level, people including Draco, Ian and Ann all had to dive out of the way of the flaming debris more than once. Ian and Ann especially took the opportunity to knock out the Brotherhood members they were fighting. However, Draco met the same fate as a Brotherhood member suddenly hit him across the head with a piece of debris. Draco dropped like a lead weight, a trail of blood streaking down the side of his head.

Back up top, Ron was forced to dance around awkwardly in order to avoid the exploding barrels. So he was adequately distracted enough that Harry was able to come up on him and tackle him to the floor. The two former friends struggled heatedly with each other, landing punches to as many inches of their bodies as they could. Their wands lay discarded beside them.

Ron managed to overpower Harry and roll them over so that he was on top as they continued to fight. Ron placed his hands over Harry's throat and began to apply pressure. Harry started to desperately gasp for air.

"I'm disappointed, Harry," Ron sneered. "You're a better fighter than this. What's holding you back?"

Harry brought his elbow down hard against Ron's arm joint, which relinquished the tight grip on his throat. "I wasn't aware I _was _holding back. In that case…"

Harry jabbed Ron in the chest and then decked him firmly in the jaw. Ron was propelled back…back into Hermione's waiting hold. As Harry got up, Hermione locked Ron's hands up, rendering him immobile. Harry picked up his wand, but then spotted Excalibur a few inches away. With his free hand, Harry picked that up as well.

"Congratulations," growled Ron, who was still in Hermione's hold. "But now the question is…what do you do with it?" He abruptly broke free of Hermione's grip and shoved her against the wall, a knife appearing in his other hand. Ron placed the tip of the knife against Hermione's smooth cheek. "Do you save the woman you love…or do you stop the man whose heart the blade of that sword is meant for?" Ron motioned with his eyes toward Garrett, who was still in the midst of his ritual from The Book. By now, a line of blood was dripping down from Hermione's cheek where the knife was pressed.

Harry looked both fearfully and uncertainly at Hermione. She gave him a look back that told him she could take care of herself.

"Oh," Harry said as the faintest of smiles came across his lips, "I'm not worried so much for Hermione's safety as I am for yours."

Swiftly, Hermione shoved aside Ron's knife and kneed him in the gut. It looked like Hermione had taken it upon herself to train in not just wizard combat, but hand-to-hand as well.

"Go," Hermione told Harry confidently. "You have a battle of your own to fight…and I have mine."

Harry and Hermione shared one more look with each other that spoke their words of concern for them. Finally, Harry gripped Excalibur tighter and started running up a set of stairs toward the next level.

_You're going to make it out of this_, Harry thought to himself. _For her_.

Hermione was Harry's driving force. Not just for defeating Garrett, but from everything to this to life itself. She had already experienced the heartache of losing someone she loved already, and Harry was _not_ about to put her through that again.

Harry reached the top of the stairs and found that he was in a perfect position above Garrett to surprise him, since Garrett was still occupied with his reading of The Book. Taking a deep breath, Harry tucked Excalibur into his belt on his right side and backed up a few steps.

In that instant, Harry realized that he wasn't just about to fight for Hermione. He was about to fight for Ginny as well.

That thought guided his feet forward until they had left the platform and were sailing down through the air toward Garrett.


	27. The Power of The Book

CHAPTER TWENTY-SEVEN

_**THE POWER OF THE BOOK**_

Harry landed hard against Garrett, knocking him down while rolling across the floor himself. A spell impacted a few inches away from Harry's face, causing him to scurry to his feet to see Garrett already recovered from the sudden blow. Harry withdrew Excalibur from his belt and leveled it evenly in front of him.

Garrett smirked amusedly as he made his wand extend into a sword of his own that matched Excalibur in size and intimidation factors. With a silver hilt and a light purple blade, Garrett's sword looked to carry just as much magical power as Excalibur. The three red bursts of energy that sprang out and flew in a triangular pattern to blast the walls violently only confirmed that. Garrett drew closer to The Book and suspended his hand over the pages, which had a tinge of colorless energy floating off of them.

"So it's your practical weapon against my sorcery." Garrett balled his hand into a fist and the collection of energy came up and enclosed itself around his hand. Garrett then swept his hand around in a half-circle, and the energy soared out throughout the Main Hall and embedded itself into the walls. Seconds later, those walls declined in on themselves, sinking down a few feet as if pieces of them had been abruptly pulled free. Shrapnel cascaded down everywhere as smoke billowed out. Garrett raised his sword challengingly.

"Let's put it to the test."

Both Harry and Garrett lunged at the same time, and their swords connected with a flash of light that was accompanied by sparks of electrical energy.

The two of them traded blows and parries furiously, moving back and forth as their duel permitted. Each clash of the swords emitted sparks similar to the ones that had flashed after the very first meeting of the blades.

Harry had little next to no experience in swordfighting, but he found that his arm was pulled in what felt to be predetermined arcs that successfully blocked lunges from Garrett that would have otherwise killed him by now. There had to be something about Excalibur that could make even the most inexperienced fencer capable of keeping up with experts in the field. When Harry and Garrett's swords were intertwined in a cross shape and forced into a position that made the two wizards struggle to free them, Harry brought up his wand and nailed Garrett with a Stunning Spell.

Garrett was thrown backwards, end over end and frozen in his current position, but a blue light engulfed his body once he landed on his feet and that bluish hue left him before turning to red. The Stunning Spell zoomed back toward Harry, who dived to the right to avoid it.

All the while, The Book of Merlin was producing a slew of ambient purple light that snaked down from the pages and onto the floor. The purple light was the result of the ink from the pages running together and flowing to the center crease, where it turned purple and dripped over the side. It was as if someone had splashed the pages with water.

The purple light spread in multiple directions and rose into the air, taking flight toward the windows and shattering the glass to pieces once contact was made.

Meanwhile, Garrett stomped the ground in front of him fiercely, and along with the floor quaking violently, jagged cracks formed and spread as far as the other end of the area. Harry leapt aside from a contour that was approaching him at an alarming rate and was soon standing dead in the center of a dais that had once been part of one solid stretch of stone.

Harry moved to get closer to Garrett, but the surroundings suddenly began to shake mercilessly, making foreboding cracking sounds that made Harry's pulse quicken even more. The force of the movement flung Harry against the wall directly beside his new dais right between two suits of armor equipped with medieval weapons.

Below, the cracks had spread so that Ian and Ann, who had finally dispensed with all of Garrett's men, had to work in order to keep from falling through themselves. The unconscious form of Draco nearly tumbled through one of the cracks, but Ann used her wand to pole-vault over one of the larger cracks and snatched up Draco's limp form before it disappeared into oblivion. She returned to Ian, who helped Ann lay Draco safely between them.

The shaking persisted as Harry grasped at jutted-out portions of the wall to ensure he didn't go tumbling through one of the openings. From the way the sunlight streaming in from the windows started to shift across the castle floor, the thought that the castle itself was moving came across Harry's mind. He glanced up at the first window he could find and saw that the clouds and the blue sky outside were moving down, which meant that the entire Silver Castle must be moving up into the air.

Suddenly, Garrett was back in front of Harry, gazing down at him with fierce intensity while he tapped his sword against his leg.

"It's incredible, isn't it?" he said. "What this Book can do."

He grabbed Harry by his shirt and boosted them both into the air with a strength and velocity unnatural for any normal person. Harry and Garrett spiraled through midair until they landed forcefully against one of the awkwardly positioned staircases much higher up.

The staircase was at a sideways angle, but it seemed gravity wasn't an issue because when Harry and Garrett got to their feet, they easily kept their footing, despite being in a position that would have otherwise sent them falling. Their hair stood up due to the gravity, but this was more noticeable on Garrett because Harry's was already messy. After becoming accustomed to their new situation, Harry and Garrett resumed the swordfight.

A few levels below them, Hermione and Ron were still engaged in a fight that was as much physical as it was emotional. They were working their way up the flight of stairs Harry had climbed earlier, shooting spells so fast that only the flashes of those spells were visible rather than their arms. Hermione was at the head while Ron was at the bottom. With an amazing display of speed, Ron closed the gap between them just as a flaming jet of purple passed over his head and ignited a fiery explosion above him and Hermione. They covered their heads for protection, but Hermione was able to get a headstart and shove Ron into the wall.

Ron gasped as the last of the debris fell around him and the air was knocked from his lungs because of the impact. He was next thrown to the head of the stairs by Hermione, and the steps themselves pounded his gut, dispersing any air that was left in him. Of course, he knew that he deserved such harshness given his violation of friendship, but that certainly did not stop Ron from fighting back.

As Hermione raced past Ron's spread-eagled form on the stairs, he reached out and grabbed Hermione's leg firmly, and pulled it out from under her. This happened just as another jet of purple passed precariously close to Hermione; Ron's actions had narrowly made her miss it.

Regaining his breath, Ron hauled himself back to his feet and dragged Hermione along with him. As he did, Ron looked down to where The Book sat abandoned and saw that it was churning out countless bursts of lethal purple jets at an alarming rate. Each time one of those jets slammed into a solid surface, it resulted in big chunks of the castle being torn away from the foundation. Not only that, but fiery explosions ruptured the walls from those jets so frequently, enough debris was blown free that it was making the castle fall apart faster.

Angrily, Ron pushed Hermione against the wall, underneath a bracket holding a torch. He then made a sparkling green whip flow from the tip of his wand and he raised it up, poised to strike.

"And to think I used to find you desirable," snorted Ron. "Now, I just find you despicable."

"Believe me, the feeling's mutual," Hermione retorted.

Right as Ron whipped his cord down toward Hermione, Hermione turned her wand into a sword and sliced it through Ron's whip before it could do any damage. Half of the whip fell to the ground and dissolved into nothingness. Ron wasn't fazed, though; he simply lashed out again with what remained of the weapon. Hermione caught the whip as it wrapped around her arm. But she soon regretted that because Ron yanked with all his might on the end of the wand whip, which heaved Hermione forward and over the railing of the staircase. She was saved by Ron, who still clutched onto his wand.

Hermione dangled dangerously over the edge, her wand sword never leaving her grasp.

Smirking devilishly, Ron dropped his wand and in turn, Hermione was lowered a few inches. But Ron stepped on his wand to stop her from falling completely.

"I think I'll just enjoy myself for the moment," he said.

Back on the ground, Ian and Ann were both observing the sights that were playing out above them with panicked eyes. Ian was focused on Harry's gravity-defying duel with Garrett while Ann was fixed on Hermione hanging over the edge of the staircase. Both knew they had to do something.

An idea suddenly popped into Ann's head and her face slackened in recognition. "We need to get back to Headquarters. Now!" she muttered hurriedly.

"Why?"

"There's something at Harry's desk I think could come in handy right about now." And with that, Ann dashed toward the fireplace from which Harry and the others had emerged earlier and jumped into the green flames.

Ian took one last look at the action happening above and shrugged in a "Oh well, why not?" kind of way. He picked up Draco, who was still out for the count, and hauled him over one shoulder. With Draco in tow, Ian ran as fast as he could toward the fireplace and leapt through the flames in a brilliant flash of green.

That green flash amidst the ones of orange and purple obviously caught Harry's attention, and he subconsciously tore his eyes away from Garrett long enough for Garrett to elbow Harry into the wall. The moment Harry hit the stone, he saw Garrett plunge his blade toward Harry's face. But Harry was quick enough to duck out of the way so that Garrett's sword merely bounced off the wall. Still in something of the fetal position, Harry clinked Excalibur against its opponent, but in an almost impossible movement, Garrett grabbed Harry again and tossed him up onto the staircase above them. This one was entirely upside down.

And yet when Harry's feet made contact with the steps, they held on just as effortlessly as if he were standing up straight. In the Garrett-free moments Harry had, he looked over and spotted Hermione suspended high above the ground on the opposite side of the castle. He also saw Ron standing menacingly over her, and in the same instant, his heart pounded and his blood boiled. Another stray purple jet hit a bit too close to Harry for comfort, and Harry was jolted out of his reverie in time to shield himself from another shower of debris. But also, the action made Harry wonder briefly why the Silver Castle was still standing after all this devastation, however he dismissively chalked it up to some form of ancient charm. He had much more pressing matters to worry about, like Garrett's sudden reappearance in front of him.

"Why are you doing this?" Harry asked exasperatedly, ignoring the fact that they were upside down.

"To master the ultimate power," Garrett replied as he lunged with a blow that Harry blocked.

"I mean personally. What are you gaining from this?"

Garrett tackled Harry and they both struggled so that they tumbled over the staircase railing and were flipped onto a new stairway, this one right side-up.

"I'm not _gaining_, I'm _providing_. Providing the magical community with the kind of security the Ministry seems incapable of supplying. No more innocent lives will be taken because of poorly constructed protocols!"

"What are you on about?" Harry nearly had to shout in order to be heard over all the raucous.

"Four years ago, when the Death Eaters were on the rise, some Aurors approached me with information that gave the location of a Death Eater safehouse. I brought it to Scrimgeour, but just because the intelligence was unsupported and it was an unofficial informant who passed along the location at first, the Ministry refused to act on it. A few days later, a major Death Eater attack occurred in the same vicinity. Only then was the safehouse raided…after a whole neighborhood of Muggles was obliterated. With people like me in charge of the Ministry, such mistakes will never happen again. So by trying to stop me, you're only supporting a broken system."

Harry shook his head slightly. "This is why I don't get involved in politics."

He moved to strike again, but neither he nor Garrett saw the latest purple jet coming their way. It smashed into the staircase with such force that the staircase was blasted into a thousand pieces in a burst of orange.

Harry and Garrett flipped through the air down toward where The Book still emitted the powerful energy. Both men slowed their descent so that their landing wasn't as bone shattering as it would have been. They touched ground inside a red circle of glowing runes that had suddenly appeared on the ground.

Above them, Hermione still hung over the edge of the stairway. Ron, meanwhile, had moved closer to the edge, the other end of the whip clutched in his hand.

"I must say I'm impressed, Hermione. I've never seen you with such adamant resolve."

Unbeknownst to Ron, Hermione smirked triumphantly. She reached up with her sword and delivered a cut to Ron's leg. The blade came back with a thin strip of blood on it as Ron inhaled sharply while stepping back. Hermione pointed her sword at herself.

"_Wingardium Leviosa!"_

Instantly, Hermione was lifted up and back onto the head of the stairway. She punched Ron hard across the face as her feet touched solid footing again. Hermione persisted as she grabbed a handful of Ron's hair and tugged hard.

"If I ever had any true feelings for you," she muttered in a trembling voice next to Ron's ear, "they've now been replaced by ones of pure hatred. It's all you deserve now."

"Do you want to kill me, Hermione?" Another blast caught both Hermione's and stray strands of Ron's hair in a wind. "Go ahead. I'll understand if you do. No hard feelings."

Hermione picked up a piece of debris, doing her best to keep her emotions at bay. It took all of her will power. "Killing you won't get us anywhere." She banged the debris against Ron's lower skull, rendering him unconscious immediately. "Keeping you alive will." Hermione regarded Ron's form half-sadly and half-coldly. "You don't deserve the honors you received after Harry defeated Voldemort."

Hermione bound Ron in skin-tight cords that prevented any magical activity before she turned to see Harry and Garrett below her.

Garrett had gotten to his feet before Harry and was anticipating him. With a devious smirk, Garrett raised his arms, eliciting an upward outburst of red fire from the runes. Garrett brought his hands together and the fire contracted into a small ball before Garrett unleashed it at Harry. Harry absorbed the ball with Excalibur, but a second ball caught him off guard and hurled him back onto the ground.

Harry shook his head to clear it and raised it to see Excalibur just out of reach. He turned his head to be met with a new sight: Hermione gallantly soaring down toward Garrett. As Hermione successfully took Garrett by surprise, Harry noticed just how much of the Silver Castle's ceiling was missing. Chunks of it were gone but more importantly, those chunks were heading down Harry, Hermione and Garrett's way. Harry aimed his wand and blew a particularly large piece to smithereens; the remnants rained down around everyone.

Hermione had landed on Garrett's back and was putting all her effort into throwing him off his game. However, Garrett managed to grab Hermione's arms and toss her next to Harry. The action had enough ferocity in it to cause a wall of red flames to split the main staircase leading to the Hall completely in half.

Harry looked over at Hermione and made to reach out and take her hand, but gleaming shackles materialized over both of his wrists; the same happened to Hermione.

"It's ironic," said Garrett. "You activate The Book for me, and I use its power to kill you both."

Harry tore his gaze away from Hermione's slightly bloody face, partially covered by tousled hair of hers. "What?"

"It's simple, really." Garrett blew aside another descending roof chunk. "An artifact containing some of the most powerful magic in the world is accessed by using an already potent form of magic…love."

Harry and Hermione stared at Garrett in bewilderment.

"Back at Hogwarts, Harry, you saved Hermione and therefore proved your love for her in the most effective of ways. You see, I knew The Book couldn't be properly used unless a considerable outward showing of love occurred in close proximity to it. The notion that love is the most powerful magic there is traces back all the way to Merlin. It's sentimental, yes, but very true. We hid The Book under Hermione's chair when you came to save her from Lucius Malfoy. And I'd like to thank you for that, Harry."

A thought suddenly came to Harry's mind. If love was what made The Book work, then it was reasonable to assume that love could very well help defeat it. Since his fingers were still flexible underneath the shackles, Harry summoned up a good bit of his strength and inched his fingers closer to Hermione's until they touched.

The instant they did, Harry felt a curious sensation coarse through his veins that seemed to give him a fresh bout of energy. He felt rejuvenated and more than willing to get back into the fight. With his other hand, Harry reached out toward Excalibur. In one quick flash of movement, Excalibur flew into Harry's grasp as the shackles around both his and Hermione's wrists broke. After Harry helped Hermione to her feet, Excalibur started to glow in his hand.

Garrett had a surprised expression on his face.

The sound of shattering glass distracted everyone from dueling, and they all looked up to see the huge stained glass roof pane decimated, and the shards were showering down.

Harry wasn't sure what happened, but one minute, there was no form of protection between them and the glass but the next, a shimmering dome appeared around the three of them, obliterating any piece of glass that touched it. Amazed, Harry glanced at Excalibur to notice that it was sending out pulses of energy that were forming the dome. Once the falling glass was no longer a threat, the dome disappeared.

"Impressive," complimented Garrett. He roared in anger as he lunged forward with his sword.

Harry blocked every jab, but not because Excalibur was fighting for him like before, but because he was able to anticipate all of the lunges and thrusts. As Harry dueled Garrett with relative ease, the chaos around them only grew in size.

Hermione, meanwhile, had removed an axe from a nearby suit of armor and jumped into the battle.

Once she did, Garrett took the liberty of conjuring up another sword from thin air and started to use it to cheat his way through the fight. But it turned out that it wasn't worth the effort. Even though Garrett was doubly armed, Harry and Hermione nonetheless managed to keep up, if not outdo him.

Garrett swung both his blades down in a tremendous arc, yet they were both blocked by the arm of the axe. Harry and Hermione clutched the axe and pounded the blunt end of it against Garrett's face, which sent Garrett reeling. Garrett tried another lunge with his extra sword, but the weapon was cut in half by the blade of the axe.

Desperately, Garrett jumped toward The Book and picked it up. He aimed the pages at Harry and Hermione as energy bursts continued to shoot out. Like a baseball player, Harry swatted them away so that they collided with what remained of the Silver Castle.

"You lose, Garrett," Harry said, not out of breath at all. "Make a wise choice and just surrender."

"If I lose," snarled Garrett, "then I intend to go out nobly."

He let loose another roar and he lunged one last time with The Book held out in front of him.

Instinct overcame Harry and he thrust Excalibur forward with all his might. The ancient blade tore through The Book like it was nothing more than tissue paper. A brilliant light emanated from the pages, nearly blinding Harry, but not stopping Excalibur as it traveled through the cover and eventually pierced Garrett's skin just over his heart.

The light traveled through Excalibur to engulf Garrett himself. His body shook violently as the same purple energy streamed from not just his mouth, but his eyes and ears as well. Finally, a pulse of white light surged forth from Excalibur and literally made Garrett burst into a million pieces. Fortunately, there was no blood with the explosion.

The Book, now split in half, fell to the ground and dissolved into nothingness seconds later. The dust it had turned into was carried away in a gust of wind. Excalibur was the only magical item that remained, still held firmly by Harry, whose look of astonishment was still plastered across his face.

"Harry!"

Hermione's scream brought him back to his senses and see that Hermione had her gaze fixed upon something above. Harry followed her eyes to be met with the daunting sight of a rather large piece of silver debris coming their way…and fast.

There wasn't any time for fancy spellwork. Harry and Hermione each dove away from each other, far enough so that the silver chunk smashed where they'd been moments before. A rather unwelcome moaning sound reverberated throughout what remained of the Silver Castle. The roof the castle was mostly gone now, and the whole inner area was now flooded with sunlight.

The ground's cracks spread even more and grew larger in size. Harry and Hermione picked themselves up and realized just how far apart they were from one another.

Just them, a green flash of light burst in their peripheral vision, and Harry turned right in time to catch his zooming Firebolt. So _that_ was what Ian and Ann had gone back to Headquarters for.

Harry glanced around at the more frequently falling debris. They were running out of time. "Hermione, come on!"

Hermione stared nervously at the spreading cracks, trying to keep her footing as the ground quaked.

"Look, I know you can do this!" Harry said encouragingly. "COME ON!"

Hermione exhaled deeply a few times before finally sprinting as fast as she could toward Harry. As Hermione ran, debris continued to fall around her, some of it caught in the wind streaming in from outside. Hermione successfully reached Harry, who took her in his arms protectively; she certainly didn't protest to this.

"We need to get out of here," he shouted above all the noise. "Climb on!"

Harry helped Hermione onto the Firebolt before getting on himself. After he felt Hermione wrap her arms around his waist and he was positive that both his wand and Excalibur were tucked safely into his belt, Harry kicked off.

Through perfect moves, Harry swerved the broomstick in and out of oncoming debris, just narrowly missing some pieces on more than one occasion. He spied Ron's bound and unconscious form lying nearby and knew he had to retrieve him. Ron was, after all, their biggest and most promising connection to The Brotherhood.

Harry dodged a few more silver chunks and came up beside Ron and snatched him up in one swift sweep. Harry placed Ron in front of him on the broomstick as he navigated through the last few feet of danger, barely avoiding more debris. They flew into the green-flamed fireplace just as Harry thought he heard the rest of the castle imploded in on itself.

Seconds later, Harry and Hermione were back inside Barnes' office, and they collapsed in exhaustion on the rug.

Ian and Ann moved closer to haul Ron up.

"I see you got our gift," Ann said, smiling.

Harry nodded. "Yeah. Thanks for that, by the way." He and Hermione got up. "Prep him for interrogation," he said, eyeing Ron.

Ian and Ann dragged Ron's form out of the office, and Barnes and Marcus silently followed as Harry noticed Draco sprawled out on the couch in front of the far wall.

"That looks like a good idea."

Without another word, Harry and Hermione threw themselves into the plush armchair beside the couch and reveled in the comfort it provided. They deserved it.


	28. Darkness Emerging

CHAPTER TWENTY-EIGHT

_**DARKNESS EMERGING**_

__The door to the Interrogation Room opened and Ron looked up from the table to see Harry silently enter and close the door behind him. Harry still sported the rather fresh battle scars from the encounter inside the Silver Castle and he still appeared worn-out, but he nonetheless pulled out the chair from the other side of the table and plopped himself down into it.

Harry and Ron sat in silence for what seemed like hours. It was Ron who finally said the first words.

"What, you're not going to dose me with Veritaserum?"

Harry shrugged, the gesture very blasé. "I think you're still allowed the opportunity to speak freely…unless you'd prefer the Veritaserum?"

"I don't have a preference at all."

"Good. So we can get straight to it. What is The Brotherhood of the Black Serpent? From what we've gathered so far, it's obvious you're not some group of surviving Death Eaters."

Ron raised an eyebrow, yet the rest of his face was devoid of any trace of emotion. "'From what you've gathered so far'? Am I to take it you have an informant?"

Harry nodded. "Whose identity will remain secret. Now answer the question."

Ron leaned back in his chair, giving the impression that he wasn't worried in the slightest. "Okay, then. The Brotherhood is an organization dedicated to setting the Ministry back on a proper course. I'll tell you right now it _won't_ be easy discovering them, if that's what you're planning on doing. And trying to squeeze me for information will prove just as difficult."

"Well, I'm up to the challenge. After all, we foiled your plans with The Book of Merlin, it's not like we're on any kind of deadline." Harry got up and made to walk out, but Ron's voice halted him.

"I wouldn't be too sure of that, Harry. Nothing's definite at this moment, but wheels are definitely in motion and The Brotherhood will soon have a contingency in place."

Harry sat back down. "How do I know that's not just another one of your lies? You seem to be pretty good at that lately."

Ron shrugged. "There's always that Veritaserum."

Harry smirked. "No, we'll keep bringing you in for questioning for as long as it takes. Oh, we'll use Veritaserum eventually, but first we want you to know just how much pain you've caused us."

"Is that a threat?"

"No. It's a promise."

Harry got back up and reopened the door. But just like before, Ron called out after him.

"Whatever you plan on doing, you'd better do it as fast as you can! Because it may seem like you've averted another disaster, Harry, but these moments of peace will be only temporary. The Brotherhood is on the rise, and pretty soon, what I said to you earlier will ring true. When the moment comes, you're going to want to be on the right side of all this!"

Harry turned around to face Ron one more time, a look of cold indifference directed at him. "I _am_ on the right side." And with that, Harry left Ron alone in the Interrogation Room, the silence once again pressing down on him.

Inside the Observation Room on the other side of the looking glass, Hermione stood with Barnes and Marcus, staring intently at the man she had once trusted with her life. She heard Harry walk into the room and come up beside her, but Hermione never tore her gaze away from Ron.

"What do you think?" Harry asked her.

Hermione waited a few seconds before answering. "I'm with you. It's going to take a lot of work to peel back the layers of deception Ron's put up, but it's something that has to be done."

Harry inclined his head toward Barnes. "I know how this is going to sound, but I think we should be the ones to oversee Ron's questioning."

"Yes," agreed Barnes, somewhat to Harry's surprise. "You two know Ron's strengths and weaknesses better than anybody else in this office. In this instance, that can come in handy." Barnes paused as he observed Ron for himself. "By the way, someone needs to inform the Weasleys of the situation."

Harry and Hermione shared a knowing look with each other. "That should be us as well," Hermione said softly. "Such a thing should come from people they feel comfortable with."

Barnes nodded. "Understood."

With nothing more immediately important to discuss on their minds, Harry and Hermione walked toward the door.

"Oh, there's one more thing," Barnes said behind them. "I realize now may not be the most prudent time to bring it up, but with your former partner now on the opposite side of the law, you need someone else to fill Ron's shoes. And as much as I trust you, Harry, I will _not_ send any Auror of mine out in the field alone."

"I've already thought about that, Liam," Harry replied. "And I've made my decision." He looked pointedly at Hermione. "I need to work with people I know I can trust. It may seem a bit unorthodox, but I want Hermione as my new partner, even though she's not officially an Auror."

Hermione stared at Harry in both delight and surprise. "Really?"

"Yes. You've proven to me you're more than capable of handling the dangers of the job, and if you still want to become an Auror, you have my blessing."

Hermione squeezed Harry's hand gratefully. "Thank you."

Harry returned Hermione's smile. "Oh, and one more thing. I'd prefer to work as a team: Hermione, Ian, Ann and myself. I think we could get more done that way, don't you?"

Barnes allowed his mouth to slightly curve up in a grin. "I'll see that it gets done."

Harry and Hermione then exited the Observation Room. Right now, there remained one more thing to do before they could call their mission complete.

They needed to pay a visit to the Weasley family.


	29. Final Farewell

**A/N: Well, here we are...the final chapter of the story. I've had a real blast writing this and would like to thank you all who have reviewed it. I do have plans for a sequel, and the title will be "Harry Potter and the Fortress of Shadows"; it will continue the plot thread left open at the end of this story. However, seeing as I'm still developing the rest of the plot for it, the sequel won't be posted for some time, but I'm estimating it to be in late August or early September...MAYBE earler, but it depends. I just want to make sure it's as good as it can be. In the meantime, I have a one-shot and a short 10-chapter story (each for HP) I'll be writing.**

**Anyway, once again, thanks to my regular readers, and be on the lookout for the sequel coming soon,**

CHAPTER TWENTY-NINE

_**FINAL FAREWELL**_

Before Harry and Hermione departed for The Burrow, they encountered Draco, who was waiting for them at Harry's desk. After informing them that Excalibur had been taken down to the Magical Artifacts Division for safekeeping and study, he revealed to them his plans for the time being.

"You're right. With my father dead, I have the chance to live my life however I want to. I'm not sure if I can completely escape my family's history, but I'm sure as hell gonna try."

"What will you do?" Harry asked.

"Whatever I can that will absolve me, so to speak. Who knows, one day I might try to become an Auror, but for now I just need to take a few steps back and evaluate my life as it stands."

Harry could very well understand this. After The Battle of Hogwarts, he too had just wanted to rest and have time to himself. Having all that weight lifted off his shoulders, so to speak, instilled a sense of selfishness in him that Harry could at the very least let Draco have. So all Harry could do was hold out his hand.

"Good luck."

Draco grabbed Harry's hand and shook it gratefully. "Thanks."

Hermione shook Draco's hand as well and a few minutes later, Draco had left the Ministry to venture off wherever opportunities took him and Harry found himself hoping that they would see him again sometime in the future. Who would've thought that after their years at Hogwarts, Harry and Draco would wind up friends? At least, that's what Harry hoped they were as of now.

The kitchen of The Burrow was lit only by the daylight coming in from the windows. The sunshine lit the area where Ginny's body had lain, and from their chairs at the table, neither Harry nor Hermione could take their eyes off it. They were eventually forced to, however, when Mrs. Weasley set down a full pair of teacups in front of the young couple. Her hands shook slightly as she did.

Mr. Weasley, who was sitting across from Harry and Hermione, steadied Mrs. Weasley's hands as he helped her into her seat.

"There you are, dears." Mrs. Weasley's voice was hollow and devoid of any real emotion on her part. The mere sound of it tore at Harry's heart.

"To be quite honest, we're relieved the two of you wanted to come by." Mr. Weasley's voice by contrast was a bit more lively, but the sense of emptiness still ebbed itself into some syllables. "We, of course, understand why you've been away, but it's nice we can finally see each other again."

Their attitude made a lump lodge itself in Harry's throat, and Hermione hid a quivering lip by raising her teacup to her mouth.

"Arthur, Molly-…"

"Please," said Mrs. Weasley, "you can still call us Mum and Dad. You'll always be family to us, no matter what."

This caused Harry to turn his head into his shoulder, biting back his pouting lip. He cleared his throat and was brought back to the scene around him when Hermione held his hand in hers underneath the table.

"Well in that case, we feel we owe it to you to tell you the truth."

Harry and Hermione launched into the explanation of everything, from the beginning of the whole Book of Merlin mission to Ginny's death and finally to Ron's betrayal. They tentatively included their new relationship as well. Whenever it became too much for one of them to handle, the other would pick up right where the story was left off until all the facts had been relayed to Mr. and Mrs. Weasley.

And yet even though everything was finally out in the open, Harry wasn't sure if he felt relieved or not.

"I'm sorry," he said when he and Hermione had finished.

"Why, Harry?" Mrs. Weasley asked, mildly confused. "What do you have to be sorry for?"

"I made Ginny's safety my responsibility," Harry replied, unable to stare either of the Weasleys directly in the eye. "And when she died, I not only failed her…I failed you as well. I've come to accept the fact it was all out of my, out of _anybody's _control, but the reason I've been so hung up over it isn't because of any broken promise. It's because I feel like now I may lose the only family I've ever known."

The gentle touch of Mrs. Weasley's hand on his made Harry lift his eyes to finally meet theirs. "How could you ever blame yourself? And what's more, how could you think we'd blame you for all of this?"

Harry searched his mind for an answer, but came up empty.

"Harry," said Mr. Weasley, "even though we're deeply saddened by what happened, it doesn't change _anything _about what you mean to us. Both you and Hermione are like a son and daughter to us, and nothing will ever change that. It took some time, but we did move on after we lost Fred…we just have to do the same for Ginny."

Mr. and Mrs. Weasley pushed out their chairs and walked around the table to both envelop Harry and Hermione in a tender embrace. All Harry and Hermione could do was sink appreciatively into it.

Some time later, after they had spent most of the afternoon with the Weasleys, Harry and Hermione left The Burrow. They got as far the steps just outside the front door when the tears Harry and Hermione had been fighting back suddenly overcame them. Not caring whether the Weasleys could still see them, Harry and Hermione sat down on the steps, their heads bowed against each other as the last bit of the afternoon's emotions came to the surface.

Ginny's funeral took place three days later at a church on the outskirts of the city. Rather appropriately, the forecast for the day was cloudy, casting everything in a dim light that captured the overall mood of the day.

There wasn't an empty seat in the church, as many more people than Harry had anticipated showed up to pay their respects to Ginny. In the crowd, Harry noticed a few people from the office: Kingsley, Ian, Ann, Barnes and Marcus. Other than somber expressions and black attire, Harry took note of the fact that all Aurors in attendance had black bands wrapped around their badges. Harry was particularly moved by this sight, especially considering that Ginny hadn't even been an Auror to begin with.

He sat in a line with Hermione and the Weasleys, similar to the seating arrangements at Dumbledore's funeral, and just like that occasion, Harry offered his hands to the women sitting on either side of him: Hermione and Mrs. Weasley, both of whom had taken them. The only difference this time was that they were sitting at the front.

The eulogy was delivered by Harry, but the words blurred into incomprehensible noises to his ears the moment they rolled off his tongue. But they seemed to satisfy the people listening; many times, there were a few sad nods of agreement at a compliment Harry paid Ginny. In the middle of the speech, Harry swore he could see through the closed coffin and view Ginny, who was looking up at him and giving that warm smile that signified she was proud of him. Harry blinked a few times and shifted his gaze to Hermione, who was giving him much of the same expression.

Once Harry had completed the eulogy and the next aspects of a wizards' funeral were done, the pallbearers all approached the coffin to grab the handles they had been assigned. Though it was an uncommon request, Harry and Hermione had been granted permission to be two of the pallbearers. They both took their positions and gave each other the best encouraging looks they could muster.

On their way out, there was one face that distinctly stood out to Harry: Draco's. He gave Harry a quick nod as they passed.

They helped carry the coffin outside to the gravesite, where the final parts of the funeral were to take place. Everyone gathered around the hole that had been dug into the ground; the coffin was now secured in a pulley that would lower it into the ground. After all the other guests had placed flowers on top of the coffin, Harry and Hermione stepped forward together and did the same. Harry had each arm draped over Hermione's and Mrs. Weasley's shoulders.

Finally, the coffin was lowered into the grave.

Only Harry and Hermione stayed behind, standing over the tombstone that read "Ginny Weasley – Beloved Daughter and Sister".

Harry bent down in front of the tombstone, reaching into his pocket. He produced Ginny's engagement ring. Harry fingered it sadly for a few minutes.

At last, he used his wand to carve a small circle into the tombstone just above Ginny's name. in that circle, Harry firmly placed the ring. Harry felt he should've said something here, but he concluded that the action communicated everything he couldn't say.

Harry stood up, wiping one last tear away from his cheek. Hermione hugged him and rested her head against his shoulder before she took his hand and guided him away from the cemetery and toward their future.

Along the way, an image flashed through Harry's mind: a picture he had of him, Ron, Hermione and Ginny. In that picture, they were all laughing and smiling.

The feeling in that picture couldn't be more different than the one Harry and Hermione felt now.

Together, they would rebuild their lives.


End file.
